Producing kombucha beverage from winter savory (Satureja montana L.) tea inoculated by pellicle

The work is concerned with the possibility of preparing kombucha beverage from sweetened winter savory (local name Rtanj tea) inoculated with the pellicle in a quantity of 2 -51 in the vessels (glass containers) volume of 2 - 6 l. It was found that the process lasts a few days (2 - 5) longer than the traditional process of biotransformation of black tea into kombucha. It was also concluded that the rate of the process depends mostly on the volume container: medium ratio. In the subsequent kombucha fermentations the metabolic activity of the yeast and acetic fermentation cells did not change. The rate of the process was not influenced by the physiological state of the cells in the pellicle with the capacities larger than 31.