Kombucha Bacteria Growth Rate At Different Temperatures

Many commercially available kombucha products instruct to keep the bottle refrigerated. Kombucha contains probiotic bacteria. Bacteria are known to proliferate at different temperatures. Thus, we hypothesized that the warmer the temperature of kombucha storage the more bacteria growth there would be. Kombucha was stored at different temperatures and bacteria growth was recorded. Three bottles of kombucha were used in the experiment and each was put into their respective temperature zones. The first bottle, the control, was stored in a refrigerated area at 4°C, since kombucha is recommended to be stored in cold temperatures for safe consumption. The second bottle was placed at room temperature, approximately 21°C, a slightly warmer temperature. The last bottle was placed in an incubator at 37°C. After leaving the bottles in their respective temperatures for 24 hours, a series of serial dilutions was performed on the kombucha. The reason for dilutions was to be able to count the bacteria. The results for the refrigerated plate had an average (colony forming unites) CFU/mL of 9,153,333, the room temperature plate had 8,273,333 CFU/mL and the incubated plate had a CFU/mL average of 48,113,333. These numbers reflect that if kombucha is kept refrigerated or at room temperature then the bacteria amount will be at around the same, but if the kombucha is kept at a warm temperature then the bacteria amount will be greatly increased. With this in mind it is recommended that kombucha be stored refrigerated or room temperature to ensure the bacteria levels stay low