Since the consumption of vegetables and fruits is strongly
advised by many Governments to reduce the risk of several diseases
and functional declines associated with aging (Temple, 2000;
Willett, 1994, 1995), their fermentation might widen the choice
for the consumption of these products. Over the years, new and
diverse methods for processing fruits have been studied in an effort
to minimize production losses, increasing farmers' income, and to
introduce new products to the market (Duarte et al., 2010). The
development of fruit juice-based fermented beverage with kefir
may be perceived by consumers as healthy (Puerari et al., 2012).
Due to the numerous positive effects of kefir as well as vegetables
and fruits on the human health, this work was aimed to
evaluate the characteristics of kefir-like beverages obtained after
the fermentation of juices extracted from fruits cultivated in Sicily
(southern Italy) with water kefir microorganisms, in order to
develop new non-dairy fermented beverages and to valorise the
agricultural productions of this Mediterranean region.