Czech J. Food Sci., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/90/2024-CJFS

Artichoke as a novel substrate for kombucha fermentation: Fermentation characteristics, functional properties, and sensory evaluationOriginal Paper

Anh Duy Do ORCID...¹, Le Bao Xuyen Nguyen ORCID...², Hong Viet La ORCID...³, Thach Phan Van ORCID...⁴

¹ CIRTech Institute, HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

² Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

³ The Institute for Scientific Research and Application, Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, Phu Tho Province, Vietnam

⁴ Faculty of Applied Science and Technology (FAST), Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

This study examined the feasibility of using artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) as a non-traditional substrate for kombucha fermentation and evaluated its effects on fermentation performance, functional properties, and sensory quality. Fermentation with artichoke supported pronounced SCOBY development by day 21, alongside progressive utilisation of soluble solids, increasing total acidity, and a concomitant decrease in pH. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents increased significantly during fermentation, reaching peak values at day 14 [342.47 ± 16.89 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)·L^–1 and 44.54 ± 3.35 mg quercetin equivalents (QE)·L^–1, respectively], which coincided with enhanced antioxidant activity as assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays. The fermented beverage also demonstrated antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae, and Staphylococcus aureus, together with moderate α-amylase inhibitory activity. Sensory evaluation showed higher overall acceptability for artichoke-based kombucha compared with the conventional tea-based formulation. Collectively, these findings indicate that artichoke can be effectively utilised as a substrate for kombucha fermentation, resulting in a beverage with promising in vitro functional properties and favourable sensory quality.

Keywords: Cynara scolymus; alternative substrate; SCOBY fermentation; phenolic biotransformation; functional beverage; antioxidant activity; antibacterial activity; ⍺-amylase inhibition

Received: May 15, 2024; Revised: March 27, 2026; Accepted: April 9, 2026; Prepublished online: June 19, 2026