Nowadays, people’s awareness about the role of diet in maintaining well-being and good health has increased. Consumers expect that the products not only provide them with essential nutrients but will also be a source of biologically active substances, which are beneficial to their health. One of the “healthy trends,” which has appeared among the consumers worldwide is kombucha, a tea drink with high antioxidant potential, obtained through the activity of a consortium of acetic acid bacteria and osmophilic yeast, which is also called “tea fungus.” Kombucha obtained from tea is characterized by its health-promoting properties. Promising results in in vitro and in vivo studies have prompted research groups from around the world to search for alternative raw materials for tea fungus fermentation. Attempts are made to obtain functional beverages from leaves, herb infusions, vegetable pulp, fruit juices, or milk. This review focuses on describing the progress in obtaining a fermented beverage and bacterial cellulose using tea fungus on alternative raw materials.

The antimicrobial properties of chitosan solutions and films against selected bacteria and the effect of chitosan incorporation into gelatin films were studied. The bactericidal effect of chitosan solutions increased with time and temperature of sample incubation. Two psychrotrophic strains Pseudomonas fluorescens and Listeria innocua were more sensitive to chitosan than mesophilic strains Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The growth of bacteria under chitosan discs was inhibited. In the case of two component gelatin-chitosan films strong antimicrobial effect was also observed.