Determination of bacterial community structure of Turkish kefir beverages via metagenomic approach

Bacterial microbiota of industrially produced kefir beverages (n:33) consumed in Turkey was studied using a culture-independent method and a metagenomic approach. DNA extraction from non pre enriched and pre-enriched kefir samples was used for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Kefirs were dominated by Firmicutes, followed by Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla. The most abundant genera in non pre-enriched kefir beverages were Lactococcus followed by Streptococcus, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Leuconostoc. Pre-enriched kefirs were dominated by Streptococcus followed by Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Leuconostoc at the genus level. Psychroserpens, Desulfonispora, Pediococcus, Micromonospora, Fructobacillus, Mycobacterium, Acetobacter, Pseudopedobacter, and Clostridium XI genera were found only in pre-enriched kefirs. Kefirs displayed pH differences from 4.04 to 4.49 and the acidity was 0.617e0.987. In two samples, the lowest pH values were obtained with abundance of Lactobacillus helveticus and Streptococcus salivarius. This study broadens our viewpoint and strengthens future applications of kefir beverages in industrial and medical fields. (C)& nbsp;2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.