Katchieva PK, Katchieva KK, Kipkeeva FI, Kharaeva ZF, Smeianov VV. Kefir revisited: Insights from the North Caucasus. World J Exp Med 2025; 15(4): 112191 [DOI: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.112191]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Palina Kh Katchieva, PhD, Director, Institute of Development of Biotechnology, Komsomolskaya Street, Cherkessk 369000, Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia. pkatchieva@inbox.ru
Research Domain of This Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Exp Med. Dec 20, 2025; 15(4): 112191 Published online Dec 20, 2025. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.112191
Kefir revisited: Insights from the North Caucasus
Palina Kh Katchieva, Khalimat Kh Katchieva, Fairuza I Kipkeeva, Zaira F Kharaeva, Vladimir V Smeianov
Palina Kh Katchieva, Khalimat Kh Katchieva, Institute of Development of Biotechnology, Cherkessk 369000, Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia
Fairuza I Kipkeeva, Vladimir V Smeianov, Department of Biology, Medical Institute, North Caucasian State Academy, Cherkessk 369001, Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia
Zaira F Kharaeva, Department of Microbiology, Virology and Immunology, Кabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M.Berbekov, Nalchik 360004, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia
Author contributions: Katchieva PK, Katchieva KK, Kipkeeva FI, Kharaeva ZF, and Smeianov VV conceptualized and designed the study, created the artwork, supervised, and made critical revisions; Katchieva PK and Smeianov VV conducted the literature review, performed the analysis and data interpretation and drafted the original manuscript; all authors prepared the draft and approved the submitted version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Palina Kh Katchieva, PhD, Director, Institute of Development of Biotechnology, Komsomolskaya Street, Cherkessk 369000, Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia. pkatchieva@inbox.ru
Received: July 21, 2025 Revised: September 11, 2025 Accepted: November 27, 2025 Published online: December 20, 2025 Processing time: 152 Days and 9.2 Hours
Abstract
Kefir is a probiotic fermented milk product, distributed throughout the world from the North Caucasus, formed by fermenting milk with kefir grains. Kefir grains represent a striking example of microbial symbiosis between bacteria and fungi. Despite the extensive shifts in microbial composition during milk fermentation, the composition of kefir grains remains relatively constant. The evolutionary origin of such a stable symbiont remains unclear. There are multiple reports of differences between commercial kefir-like products and kefir prepared according to traditional techniques by fermenting milk with indigenous kefir grains. Modern research is aimed at studying the health properties of kefir and kefir grain components. To accurately represent the evolutionary origin of kefir grains, the characteristics of important species or consortia for the development of new promising products, it is essential to study the composition of samples of historical kefir origin, particularly the Karachay-Cherkess and Kabardino-Balkarian Republics of the North Caucasus.
Core Tip: Kefir grains are a unique symbiont of bacteria and yeast used as a starter for the production of a fermented milk drink with many beneficial properties. Bacterial and yeast components of the grains and kefir are actively studied for use in clinical medicine and in the development of new functional products, antimicrobial and probiotic drugs. This review introduces the history of the origin of kefir grains, various aspects of traditional and industrial use of kefir grains, properties and genetic characteristics of the microbial profile of kefir grains.
