Total microbe, physicochemical property, and antioxidative activity during fermentation of cocoa honey into kombucha functional drink

Cocoa honey is a by-product of cocoa bean processing and is rich in sugars and minerals that is suitable as medium for fermentation, from which then it could be used for making potential kombucha functional drink. It is an approach to upgrading cocoa honey product. This study evaluated total microbes, physicochemical aspect, antioxidant activity, and phenolic and flavonoid compounds during the fermentation of cocoa honey kombucha. The fermentation time significantly affected the properties of cocoa honey functional beverages. Total acidity, cellulose weight, viable counts, and antioxidative activity increased during the 8-day fermentation. On the contrary, pH and total soluble solids decreased after 6 days of fermentation. Based on antioxidative activity, the good quality of kombucha was confirmed after 6 days of fermentation. During this time, the kombucha cacao honey drink demonstrated high antioxidant activity (70.14% +/- 1.15% DDPH and 43.49% +/- 0.52% ABTS), which correlated with the high levels of phenols (144.75 +/- 2.03 mg GAEq/mL) and flavonoids (1.776 mg QAEq/mL). It is expected to help in further research on the production of kombucha functional drink.