nutrients Review The Many Faces of Kefir Fermented Dairy Products: Quality Characteristics, Flavour Chemistry, Nutritional Value, Health Benefits, and Safety Mohamed A. Farag 1,2,*, Suzan A. Jomaa 2, Aida Abd El-Wahed 3,4 and Hesham R. El-Seedi 4,5,6,7,* 1 Pharmacognosy Department, College of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr El Aini St., P.B., Cairo 11562, Egypt 2 Chemistry Department, School of Sciences & Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt;
[email protected] 3 Department of Bee Research, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza 12627, Egypt;
[email protected] 4 Pharmacognosy Group, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Biomedical Centre, Box 574, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden 5 Al-Rayan Research and Innovation Center, Al-Rayan Colleges, Medina 42541, Saudi Arabia 6 International Research Center for Food Nutrition and Safety, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China 7 Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, SE 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden * Correspondence:
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[email protected] (H.R.E.-S.); Tel.: +20-011-202-2362245 (M.A.F.); +46-18-4714496 (H.R.E.-S.) Received: 22 November 2019; Accepted: 18 January 2020; Published: 28 January 2020 Abstract: Kefir is a dairy product that can be prepared from different milk types, such as goat, buffalo, sheep, camel, or cow via microbial fermentation (inoculating milk with kefir grains). As such, kefir contains various bacteria and yeasts which influence its chemical and sensory characteristics. A mixture of two kinds of milk promotes kefir sensory and rheological properties aside from improving its nutritional value.