The consumption of fermented foods posing health-promoting attributes is a rising global trend. In this manner, fermented dairy products represent a significant subcategory of functional foods with established positive health benefits. Likewise, kefir—a fermented milk product manufactured from kefir grains—has been reported by many studies to be a probiotic drink with great potential in health promotion. Existing research data link regular kefir consumption with a wide range of health-promoting attributes, and more recent findings support the link between kefir’s probiotic strains and its bio-functional metabolites in the enhancement of the immune system, providing significant antiviral effects. Although it has been consumed for thousands of years, kefir has recently gained popularity in relation to novel biotechnological applications, with different fermentation substrates being tested as non-dairy functional beverages. The present review focuses on the microbiological composition of kefir and highlights novel applications associated with its fermentation capacity. Future prospects relating to kefir’s capacity for disease prevention are also addressed and discussed.

The aim of the present study is the evaluation of a novel potentially probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei SP5, previously isolated from dairy products, as a starter culture of white brined cheese production, either free or immobilized on a traditional food, “trahanas”, in order to provide protection to the starter culture and a prebiotic effect. All produced cheeses were compared with cheese manufactured by renin enzyme. Several parameters that affect the acceptability, quality, and shelf life of white brined cheese were investigated, including microbial populations, physicochemical characteristics, and cheese volatiles through 70 days of ripening and storage. White brined cheese production by free or immobilized L. paracasei SP5 resulted in significantly higher acidity (over 0.8 g of lactic acid/100 g of cheese at the 70th day of ripening) and significantly reduced counts (around 50%) of coliforms, yeasts, and fungi compared to cheese produced with no starter culture. The use of the freeze-dried novel starter culture, either free or immobilized, improved the aromatic profile of cheeses as was proven through a GC-MS analysis. In addition, it should be underlined that the application of the novel strain led to white brined cheese with improved overall quality and sensory characteristics. The results indicate the potential industrial use of freeze-dried L. paracasei SP5 as a starter culture for the production of good-quality functional white brined cheeses.

An alternative methodology is proposed for low temperature winemaking using freeze-dried raw materials. Pine sawdust was delignified and the received porous cellulosic material was applied as immobilization carrier of the psychrotolerant yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae AXAZ-1. The immobilization of yeast cells was examined and verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The immobilized biocatalyst and high-gravity grape must were separately freeze-dried without cryoprotectants and stored at room temperature (20–22 °C) for 3 months. The effect of storage on the fermentation efficiency of the immobilized biocatalyst at low temperatures (1–10 °C), as well as on the aromatic characteristics of the produced wines was evaluated. Storage time had no significant effect on the fermentation efficiency of the biocatalyst resulting in most cases in high ethanol production 13.8–14.8% v/v. The volatile fraction of the produced wines was examined using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). GC-MS/SPME analysis along with the organoleptic evaluation revealed in all produced wines a plethora of fresh and fruit aromatic notes. To conclude, fermentation kinetics and aromatic profile evaluation encourages the production of high-quality sweet wines at low temperatures using pine sawdust (Pinus halepensis) entrapped yeast cells as a promoter.