What is Kombucha? The benefits of kombucha tea and notes to avoid

Nowadays, many people believe that drinking tea is not only for people to relax and rest, but also brings good health benefits. Therefore, there are more and more different types of tea from natural ingredients, which are beneficial for health. Among them can be mentioned Kombucha, a tea that brings many benefits from raising Scoby to make tea.

Kombucha – What is an aquatic mushroom?

Kombucha is also known as aquatic mushroom, mushroom of immortality

Kombucha, also known as aquatic mushroom or mushroom of immortality , is the Japanese name for a tea originating from Manchuria (China) known as shui red ginseng (红茶菇) .

The main ingredients for making Kombucha tea are tea, sugar and SCOBY ( short for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast, meaning symbiosis of bacteria and yeast).

If you already know that vinegar fermentation produces a white film that we often call “vinegar” or “female vinegar”, Scoby is similar.

During fermentation, Kombucha forms a mushroom-like membrane

During fermentation, Scoby breaks down the carbohydrates found in sugar and releases probiotic bacteria (a form of bacteria and yeast that are beneficial for the digestive system). The result is a drink that contains high levels of acids (including acetic, gluconic and lactic acids) along with B vitamins, and enzymes .

During this fermentation, Kombucha forms a mushroom-like film that rises to the surface of the tea itself, which is Scoby, which is why some people refer to Kombucha tea as “mushroom tea”.

Therefore, Kombucha tea is a carbonated beverage like beer and has the sour taste of fermented vinegar, mixed with the sweetness of sugar and the slight scent of tea or fruit juice mixed with it.

The scent of Kombucha tea depends on how long the Scoby ferments and the type of tea or fruit juice you mix it with.

The taste of kombucha depends on the type of tea, fruit, and magic water mixed with

Health benefits of Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented tea that has many health benefits due to the compounds produced during fermentation.

In addition, kombucha is made from tea, so it has the same benefits as tea . This is a drink that has been used for a long time (especially in Japan, China and Western countries) and there have been a number of studies showing the health benefits of Kombucha as follows:

Source of probiotic bacteria

Probiotics are a form of bacteria and yeast that are very beneficial for the digestive system for both adults and children . This type of bacteria helps to keep the bacterial and yeast ecosystems in the intestinal tract balanced, creating a stable environment for favorable food digestion.

However, there is currently no specific research on the benefits of Kombucha tea or other probiotics from Kombucha.

But in the process of Kombucha fermentation, the tea also released Probiotics and a high content of acids and vitamins beneficial for health. So you can also use Kombucha tea as a drink to help eat better, better digestion.

Kombucha is a Potential Source of Probiotics

Prevent the spread of cancer cells

According to research published in the journal Cancer Letters , Kombucha tea contains a high concentration of antioxidants and a concentration of polyphenols (compounds obtained in the process of raising Scoby in tea, very good for health). can prevent the spread of cancer cells .

Enhance the functioning of the digestive system

By fermenting, Kombucha has created many active substances beneficial to the digestive system such as probiotics, enzymes, polyphenols, acetic acid, … these are substances that have been shown to be very good for absorption and digestion .

Support weight loss

When Scoby is raised in green tea, it will contain a lot of antioxidants, so the metabolism and fat burning process will be more active .

Control type II diabetes

Just like the use of green tea, Kombucha made from Scoby in green tea will help slow the digestion of carbs, while helping to lower blood sugar, improve liver and kidney function .

Reduce the risk of heart disease

Many studies show that Kombucha tea made from green tea will have the same effect as green tea, specifically Kombucha tea will help cut bad cholesterol and provide good cholesterol for the body .

Improve immune system

Many clinical evidences have shown that Kombucha tea contains high levels of vitamin C, which helps fight damaged cells and strengthens the human immune system in colds, flu,…

In addition, during Scoby fermentation, powerful antioxidants such as D-saccharic acid-1, 4-lactone (DSL) also help reduce oxidative stress and immunosuppressive conditions.

Where to buy Kombucha tea? Where to buy Scoby breed?

At the present time, although Kombucha is not a very popular drink, you can still find it easily on e-commerce sites or some reputable stores , the price ranges from 40,000 VND. – 100,000 VND/scoby breed depending on quality. However, the quality when buying online is also difficult to guarantee, so you need to be careful and choose a reputable store to buy.

Kombucha/Scoby can be easily purchased on e-commerce sites

And if you know someone who raises Kombucha, feel free to ask for a piece of it, because after raising it for a while, the Scoby will continuously grow thicker (sometimes with a fist), so the Splitting a thin layer off for you doesn’t hurt either.

Or if you’re a do-it-yourself person, you can still make your own Scoby at home using farmed vinegar .

You pick up a layer of cultured vinegar and drop it in sugar tea for more than a month, it will also form a Scoby Kombucha. This method is more time consuming and has a higher risk of Scoby breaking, but it’s worth a try.

How to identify a good Scoby breed and a bad Scoby breed

If you are a newcomer to Kombucha for the first time, it will be difficult to know what is a good Kombucha and how a Scoby can use it. It’s very simple:

• A good Scoby will have a chewy texture similar to a piece of coconut jelly, ivory white, without rags or thick and thin places.

• A damaged Scoby will have a dull color and turn gray, torn, but not as healthy as a good Scoby. Absolutely do not buy Scoby with mold appearing because if making tea will affect health.

A good Scoby has a beautiful appearance, no rags, a bad Scoby appears moldy

Notes when raising Scoby

How to raise Scoby

Once you have Scoby, the remaining ingredients are also easy to find, let’s start raising Scoby to make Kombucha tea!

Ingredient

• 2 green or black tea bags (tea bags) (about 4g)
• 1 liter of filtered water
• 100g white sugar
• Glass jar (choose one with wide mouth, 3-5 liters)
• 1 breed of Scoby

Doing

Step 1 : First, boil 1 liter of water and then add 2 tea bags to 100g of sugar, stir well and steep for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn off the heat, let it cool down, then pour it into a glass jar.

Step 2 : Wash your hands thoroughly, then wash the Scoby mushroom with water to remove dirt and drop it into a glass jar. If you are more careful you can wear gloves when you put Scoby in the bottle.

Note: Scoby is very slippery so do this step carefully. If using a small, thin Scoby mushroom, it is not necessary to wash it again to avoid tearing the Scoby.

Step 3 : Use a thin cloth to cover the mouth of the box and then tie it with an elastic band to help prevent the invasion of bacteria as well as insects, creating a favorable environment for the tea to ferment more easily.

Note: Scoby is a yeast that requires air to circulate in order to reproduce. Do not use a thick, tight towel to cover the vase, but use a thin towel or towel.

Step 4 : Put the jar in a cool place, avoid direct sunlight and do not place next to fermenters, microwave ovens, gas stoves, … places that generate a lot of heat.

Step 5 : After a few days, the fungus will give birth and float to the surface. Every 3 days, you should check once to see if the mushrooms have a satisfactory sour taste or not? Remember to use a clean spoon when tasting.

Note: Scoby is a mushroom that loves “quiet”. So don’t move it too much or use a spoon to taste it continuously. This will make it very easy for Kombucha to form a solid layer, in addition, opening the lid continuously also makes it easy for bacteria to enter and spoil Kombucha.

Step 6 : When the mushrooms achieve the desired taste, then drain the water into another bottle and then refrigerate it for use gradually. When drinking, just add juice, herbs or sliced fruit as you like to have a more pleasant aroma and taste. The remaining mushrooms can be placed in another jar to continue farming.

>> Reference: Summary of Kombucha tea recipes that are both delicious, easy to drink and good for health

Notes when raising Scoby

• The standard ratio for Scoby formula is: 2 tea bags (about 4g): 100g sugar: 1 liter of water. However, this ratio will change for the next rearing. Next time, you need to increase the amount of water to 1.5 – 2.5 liters of sugar tea.

• You can use many types of tea to grow scoby mushrooms such as black tea, yellow tea, tea from dried flowers (chamomile tea, artichoke tea,…), lipton tea, peach tea, artichoke tea… Also , you can also add fragrances of your choice. However, according to the share of experienced Kombucha farmers, raising with organic tea, pure tea will produce Kombucha with excellent taste.

• Sugar for Kombucha should also use pure sugar, without bleach. If you can’t find pure sugar, you can use unbleached yellow sugar. Note that if you use light-colored sugar, the Kombucha juice will have a bright, clear color, whereas if you use brown sugar or yellow sugar, the Kombucha juice will have a darker color but the quality will not change.

• When raising Scoby, it is imperative to use a glass container / container because using a metal container will cause some chemical reactions that affect the quality of Kombucha. Glass jars for Kombucha farming must also be of good quality, thick, wide mouth, easy to clean.

• The time for yeast fermentation to occur is not more than 10 days. After this time, the mushrooms can be over-fermented, affecting the taste and quality of the Kombucha.

• For the Scoby breed when purchased, it is still thin, you should leave it for 1 more day before starting to raise it in sugar tea solution.

• If there is a need to transport Scoby, you can use a plastic box instead of a glass one , but it must be placed in the sugar tea mixture.

• The bait water after spawning the fungus must not be reused, must be discarded to avoid affecting Scoby.

Notes when using Kombucha tea

• Because Kombucha tea contains gas, you should not store it in the freezer , but only in the refrigerator, use within 1-3 days.

• Do not use Kombucha tea that has been over-fermented, spoiled because at this time the taste and quality have been affected, if used, it affects health.

• For people with weakened immune systems, injuries, pregnant or nursing women should also not drink Kombucha tea.

• People with stomach diseases or related to the digestive system, weak stomach should not use Kombucha tea because the tea contains beneficial bacteria that can easily irritate the digestive system.

• For the average person, you should only drink about 240ml of Kombucha tea / day because Kombucha contains a lot of sugar and calories, especially in Kombucha also contains alcohol, so when drinking a lot, it is likely to cause intoxication.

Reference source: healthline.com

Through the information shared above, Tnhelearning.edu.vn hopes that you have gained more knowledge about Kombucha tea, the benefits of kombucha tea, Scoby as well as how to raise Scoby.

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