Microflora identification of the Bulgarian cereal-based fermented beverageboza

Many of the indigenous foods consumed around the world are produced by natu ral fermentation. Information is not always available about the microorgani sms involved, which makes it very difficult to maintain the product quality . In this work the microflora of the traditional Bulgarian cereal-based bev erage beta was investigated and some of the yeast and lactic acid bacteria strains have been identified and quantified. Although further work is neede d to identify what microorganisms are responsible for the beneficial proper ties of Bulgarian boza these results could form the basis for the improveme nt of product quality and consistency, and could also be used to develop ne w cereal-based foods in Western Europe. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.