Kefir is a dairy product with a tangy flavour and a consistency slighty runnier than yoghurt.

It is made by fermenting milk with culture, otherwise known as ‘grain’.

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture honours student Nina Rosenzweig is determining the best ‘grain’ to milk ratio for commercial production of kefir dairy products, in collaboration with Tasmanian dairy companies.

“Kefir grain is a microbiological culture and, when submerged in milk, it causes the milk to ferment,” Ms Rosenzweig said.

“When making kefir, three to five per cent is the ideal ratio of kefir grain to milk to ensure a kefir drink with the characteristic sour flavour and effervescence, which gives it the name ‘champagne of milks’.

“Any milk can be used to make kefir – skim, full cream, goat or cow milk,” she said.

Ms Rosenzweig has been working with commercial Tasmanian dairies to figure out the best way to make kefir in the factory.

“I have tested numerous batches of kefir, and through these preliminary studies, I’ve confirmed a method that ensures the consistent quality needed for a traditional style kefir drink that can be sold commercially and lasts in the fridge for up to seven days,” she said.

A key industry partner for Ms Rosenzweig’s research project is Westhaven Dairy in Launceston, with director Jonty Barnett excited about the Tasmanian developments.

“Kefir has been common in Eastern Europe for a long time, and it’s exciting to be developing Tasmanian kefir products in demand for our present-day lifestyle,” Mr Barnett said.

For the past year, Ms Rosenzweig has been researching kefir as part of her honours degree in agricultural science and the project is being supervised by the institute’s microbiologists, including Associate Professor Tom Ross.

“Kefir is different to other probiotic products, like yoghurt, because of its large number of diverse bacteria and yeasts, making it more easily digested,” Associate Professor Ross said.

“There are scores of bacterial species in kefir grains, which stay alive in the milk after the fermentation process has finished.”

The large number of microorganisms, the variety of possible bioactive compounds produced during fermentation, and the potential health benefits have seen kefir described as a ‘complex probiotic’.

Probiotics consist of live microorganisms, also called ‘good’ bacteria because they can help balance ‘good’ and ‘bad’ (pathogenic) bacteria in the digestive system, which can lead to improved gut health.

“Through a series a trials, I found that kefir minimised the growth of certain food-borne pathogenic bacteria, especially E. coli,” Ms Rosenzweig said.

“It’s no wonder that kefir is recommended as part of a healthy diet by the World Health Organisation.”

Agrifood development company RDS Partners is the major funder of this research project.

Along with Westhaven Dairy, other collaborators on this study are Leap Farm, Eden Foods, Hindmarsh Valley Dairy and FermenTasmania.