Biopolymer from Water Kefir as a Potential Clean-Label Ingredient for Health Applications: Evaluation of New Properties.
Monalisa de Alencar LucenaIgor Frederico da Silveira RamosMaurycyo Silva GeronçoRicardo de AraújoFrancisco Lopes da Silva FilhoLuís Manuel Lopes Rodrigues da SilvaRayran Walter Ramos de SousaPaulo Michel Pinheiro FerreiraJosy Anteveli OsajimaEdson Cavalcanti da Silva-FilhoMarcia Dos Santos RizzoAlessandra Braga RibeiroMarcília Pinheiro da CostaPublished in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
The present work aimed to characterize the exopolysaccharide obtained from water kefir grains (EPSwk), a symbiotic association of probiotic microorganisms. New findings of the technological, mechanical, and biological properties of the sample were studied. The EPSwk polymer presented an Mw of 6.35 × 10 5 Da. The biopolymer also showed microcrystalline structure and characteristic thermal stability with maximum thermal degradation at 250 °C. The analysis of the monosaccharides of the EPSwk by gas chromatography demonstrated that the material is composed of glucose units (98 mol%). Additionally, EPSwk exhibited excellent emulsifying properties, film-forming ability, a low photodegradation rate (3.8%), and good mucoadhesive properties (adhesion Fmax of 1.065 N). EPSwk presented cytocompatibility and antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results of this study expand the potential application of the exopolysaccharide from water kefir as a potential clean-label raw material for pharmaceutical, biomedical, and cosmetic applications.