Effect of Sugar and Tea Concentration on the Yield and Quality of Kombucha Tea Drinks with SCOBY Fermentation

¹ Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Islam Malang, Malang 65144, Indonesia
² Center for Food Security Studies, Universitas Islam Malang, Malang 65144, Indonesia

¹ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Kombucha tea is a fermented beverage made from tea (black or green), sugar, and a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Kombucha has gained popularity as a health-promoting beverage due to several potential benefits, including the presence of probiotics produced during the fermentation process. Probiotics help improve the balance of the gut microbiota, which is essential for healthy digestion. This research aimed to determine the optimal combination of sugar and tea concentrations that supports SCOBY fermentation and produces a high-quality kombucha beverage. This research was conducted at the Agrotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic University of Malang, from February to November 2025. The research design employed a completely randomized design (CRD) with two factors: (I) sugar concentration (G), consisting of 5 levels, and (II) tea concentration, also consisting of 5 levels. There were 25 combinations of factors I and II, each repeated five times, resulting in a total of 125 experimental units. Because it uses destructive observation, 500 observation units are required. The research results of the combination of sugar concentration treatment (125 g/L) and tea (12.5 g/L), which was fermented 10 days after inoculation, indicate that it is ideal for supporting the taste, thickness of nata, weight of nata, and sugar content.