Kefiran: Harnessing Exopolysaccharide bioActivities beneficiaL To Health (KHEALTH)

ongoing

KHEALTH will unlock the potential of kefiran, an exopolysaccharide (EPS) from kefir grains, a symbiotic microbial community used as a starter culture to produce the fermented beverage kefir. Thanks to recent scientific evidence of its health benefits, the popularity of kefir is rising, especially post-COVID-19. Although many studies document the health benefits of consuming kefir, the health-related attributes of kefiran have not been extensively studied. Kefiran is an EPS composed of D-glucose and D-galactose whose structure and bioactivities are strictly related to the producing microbial strain. Despite the general lack of research, preliminary studies of EPS from lactic acid bacteria show promising bioactivities such as antimicrobial and prebiotic effects. KHEALTH will screen ~200 strains from the kefir collection of Teagasc Food Research Centre to identify high-yield kefiran producers, followed by in vitro/ex vivo assays to assess bioactivities (e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, prebiotic, cholesterol-lowering). Structural analysis of kefiran will correlate with its bioactivities, filling knowledge gaps relating to EPS structure-function relationships. The project will proceed to develop scalable kefiran production strategies, including the exploitation of dairy industry by-products as fermentation substrates for kefiran production, thereby aligning with the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan. Genetic engineering approaches will be applied to further investigate approaches to enhance kefiran production. KHEALTH will also involve an in vivo animal study of kefiran's health benefits, with the final aim of harnessing its health-promoting potential. A comprehensive Dissemination, Exploitation & Communication plan will ensure the findings reach both the scientific community and society. The implementation of KHEALTH will also greatly contribute to the career development of the researcher in academia through implementation of a detailed Career Development Plan.