Composition of Milk Kefir Grains: Bacteria & Yeasts
Milk Kefir Grains are a combination of live bacteria and yeasts that exist in a symbiotic matrix. While a highly complex and variable community of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts can be found in kefir grains, this is a list of the specific set of active bacteria and yeast generally known to comprise Milk Kefir Grains:*
Bacteria
Species Lactobacillus
Lb. acidophilus
Lb. brevis [Possibly now Lb. kefiri]
Lb. casei subsp. casei
Lb. casei subsp. rhamnosus
Lb. paracasei subsp. paracasei
Lb. fermentum
Lb. cellobiosus
Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus
Lb. delbrueckii subsp. lactis
Lb. fructivorans
Lb. helveticus subsp. lactis
Lb. hilgardii
Lb. helveticus
Lb. kefiri
Lb. kefiranofaciens subsp. kefirgranum
Lb. kefiranofaciens subsp. kefiranofaciens
Lb. parakefiri
Lb. plantarum
Species Streptococcus
St. thermophilus
St. paracitrovorus
Species Lactococcus
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis
Lc. lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis
Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris
Species Enterococcus
Ent. durans
Species Leuconostoc
Leuc. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris
Leuc. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides
Leuc. dextranicum
Yeasts
Dekkera anomala / Brettanomyces anomalus
Kluyveromyces marxianus / Candida kefyr
Pichia fermentans / C. firmetaria
Yarrowia lipolytica / C. lipolytica
Debaryomyces hansenii / C. famata
Deb. [Schwanniomyces] occidentalis
Issatchenkia orientalis / C. krusei
Galactomyces geotrichum / Geotrichum candidum
C. friedrichii
C. rancens
C. tenuis
C. humilis
C. inconspicua
C. maris
Cryptococcus humicolus
Kluyveromyces lactis var. lactis
Kluyv. bulgaricus
Kluyv. lodderae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Sacc. subsp. torulopsis holmii
Sacc. pastorianus
Sacc. humaticus
Sacc. unisporus
Sacc. exiguus
Sacc. turicensis sp. nov
Torulaspora delbrueckii
Zygosaccharomyces rouxii
Acetobacter
Acetobacter aceti
Acetobacter rasens
*Please note, this list is for general informational purposes only. We do not test individual batches of Milk Kefir Grains for yeast and bacteria content, therefore we cannot make any guarantees to the exact probiotic makeup any particular set of Milk Kefir Grains sold on our website.