Vitamin profiles of kefirs made from milks of different species

Summary Kefirs were produced under laboratory conditions using 10 different kefir grain cultures from different households, and reconstituted cow, ewe, goat and mare milk as substrates. The base milks and corresponding kefirs were examined for their content of water-soluble vitamins and orotic acid. On average, enrichment of vitamin concentration of>20% was observed with thiamine (only ewe milk kefirs), pyridoxine (kefirs from all milk species except cow milk), and folic acid (kefirs from all milk species except mare milk). Orotic acid content was reduced during fermentation throughout.