The microbial diversity of water kefir, made from a mixture of water, dried figs, a slice of lemon and sucrose was studied. The microbial consortia residing in the granules of three water kefirs of different origins were analyzed. A collection of 453 bacterial isolates was obtained on different selective/differential media. Bacterial isolates were grouped with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although probiotics have been extensively studied in irritable bowel syndrome, data on the impact of probiotics on chronic constipation are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the effects of kefir, which is a probiotic fermented milk product, on the symptoms, colonic transit, and bowel satisfaction scores of patients with chronic constipation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty consecutive...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of kefir production using cow-oat milk mixture. Therefore kefir samples with 20, 40 and 60 % of oat milk were produced. The effect of oat-milk ratio on physicochemical, rheological, microbiological and sensory characteristics of the kefir samples was studied during 21 days storage at refrigerated conditions. Increasing oat milk concentration a...

Four hundred thirty-two yearling steers grazing tall fescue pastures were used to evaluate the effects of fescue cultivar and dried distillers grains (DDG) supplementation during the grazing phase on available forage, grazing gains, subsequent finishing gains, and carcass characteristics. Fescue cultivars evaluated were highendophyte ‘Kentucky 31’ and low-endophyte ‘Kentucky 31,’ ‘HM4,’ and ‘Ma...

Administration of kefir and a kefir cell-free fraction (KF) to mice injected with breast tumor cells produced, locally in the mammary gland, different profiles of cells secreting cytokines. Here, the immune cell populations in mammary glands affected by the cyclic consumption of kefir or KF for 2 or 7 d were evaluated using a breast tumor model. Apoptosis was also assayed as another mechanism i...

The objectives of this research were to determine the interaction of monensin and haylage supplementation for steers fed 60% dried distillers grains (DDGS) on 1) mineral status, performance, and carcass characteristics, and on 2) ruminal pH, H(2)S, and short-chain fatty acid concentrations. In Exp. 1, Angus-cross steers (n=168; BW=277 ± 67 kg) were blocked by BW and allotted in a 2 × 2 factoria...