koumiss
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koumiss
(ko͞o`mĭs): see fermented milkfermented milk,whole or skim milk curdled to beverage or custardlike consistency by lactic-acid-producing microorganisms. Many forms of fermented milk were used by early nomadic herders, especially in Asia and S and E Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, and South America.
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Koumiss
a drink made of fermented mare’s milk (less commonly, cow’s or camel’s milk).
Koumiss has been known among nomadic peoples since the earliest days of antiquity. It is prepared by fermenting raw mare’s milk (or pasteurized cow’s or camel’s milk) with lactic acid bacteria (mainly Lactobacillus bulgoricus) or lactic yeasts at 26°-28°C. Fermented to 60°T (Merner acidity scale), the milk is stirred for 60 minutes in conical oak or linden tubs and poured into narrow-necked hermetic bottles. It is kept in the bottles for 30–40 minutes at 20°-22°C to aerate naturally and then cooled to 4°-6°C for 12–14 hours. The finished koumiss is an efferves-cent, foamy drink with an alcoholic taste and odor.
Koumiss contains 2–2.5 percent protein; 1–2 percent fat, 3.5–4.8 percent sugar, 100–200 mg per kg of vitamin C; vitamins A, D, E, PP, and B complex; 400–600 mg of phosphorus; and 800–1,000 mg of calcium. Weak, moderately strong, and concentrated koumiss contain 0.6–0.8, 0.8–1.0, and 1–1.2 percent lactic acid, respectively. The alcoholic content is about 1.0, 1–1.5, and about 3.0 percent, respectively. Koumiss is easily digested. It increases the assimilability of food proteins and fats and improves metabolism. Natural mare’s koumiss is used in koumiss therapy. Koumiss is made widely in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
REFERENCES
Kuznetsov, D. I., and P. F. Gavrilov. Kumys — tsennoe lechebnoprofilakticheskoe sredstvo. Tambov, 1961.Kumys. Alma-Ata, 1968. [Mironenko, M. S.] Kumys — bogatyrskii napitok. Moscow, 1969.
M. S. MIRONENKO