- Tibicos
Tibicos, also known as tibi, water kefir grains, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals and California Bees, are a culture of
bacteria andyeast held in apolysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria. As withkefir grains, themicrobes present in tibicos act insymbiosis to maintain a stable culture. Tibicos can do this in many different sugary liquids, feeding off the sugar to producelactic acid , alcohol (ethanol ), andcarbon dioxide gas which carbonates the drink.Tibicos are found around the world, with no two cultures being exactly the same. Typical tibicos have a mix of "
Lactobacillus ", "Streptococcus ", "Pediococcus " and "Leuconostoc " bacteria with yeasts from "Saccharomyces ", "Candida ", "Kloeckera " and possibly others. "Lactobacillus brevis " has been identified as the species responsible for the production of thepolysaccharide (dextran ) that forms the grains.People who do not wish to consume dairy or have a vegan type diet may find that water kefir provides the living pro-biotics without the need for dairy or tea cultured products, like
kombucha . Since the finished product, if bottled, will produce a carbonated beverage, it provides an alternative to sweet soda drinks for children and adults.Preparation
Basic preparation method is to add tibicos to a sugary liquid and allow to ferment 24 to 48 hours. A typical recipe might be:
* 1/4 to 1/2 cup of tibicos
* 1 driedfig , halved
* 1/2lemon
* 60 grams or 4 tablespoons ofwhite sugar
* 1 litre (4 cups) of water
* 2 litre jar with lidMethod: dissolve the sugar in the water, add the juice of the lemon, the lemon half, and the fig. After mixing, drop in the tibicos and cover the jar. If the lid is on tightly, you get a
carbonated drink; if loose, a still drink. Set the jar aside to ferment atroom temperature for 24 to 48 hours. When finished, strain out the tibicos to add to the next batch.It is important to use ingredients that will not inhibit the fermentation. This means:
# if using tap water, filter or boil to removechlorine (note that boiling does not removechloramine )
# fresh fruit should be washed to removepesticide residues, and ideally be organic fruit
# dried fruit should bepreservative free, so as not to unbalance the bacteria counts in the tibicos or water kefir.It is recommended to follow the above recipe to maintain a healthy culture. The fruits used may be changed and mixed to create difference taste, however, it is very important to use the lemon or other acidic fruit like grapefruit. This is for the safety factor of thoses drinking the finished beverage as the
pH of 3.0 to 4.6 is desired.Additional precaution has to be made in order to keep culture healthy - all the handling needs to be done without usage of silver, since it can cause considerable damage to the grains. Stainless steel is OK. Recommend culturing grains in a glass jar with tight fitting lid and using clean metal or plastic items when handling the grains.Once a batch is ready it may be consumed fresh throughout the day or stored in sealed bottles in the refrigerator for a few days.
References
* Pidoux (1988). The microbial flora of sugary kefir grain (the gingerbeer plant): biosynthesis of the grain from Lactobacillus hilgardii producing a polysaccharide gel. [http://www.springerlink.com/content/k5n5754r5l203h5u Abstract]
* Moinas, Horisberger, Bauer (1980). The structural organization of the Tibi grain as revealed by light, scanning and transmission microscopy. [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t2147q6573471750/ Abstract]
* Daker WD, Stacey M (1938). Investigation of a polysaccharide produced from sucrose by Betabacterium vermiformé (Ward-Meyer). [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=16746831 Article]See also
*
Kefir
*Ginger beer External links
* [http://www.waterkefir.org Waterkefir.org] a wiki manual to water kefir.
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