ИСТИНА

Last century a sharp increase in the man-caused and anthropogenic pressures on the environment has led to lowering human resistance to various diseases. Nowadays due to the close relationship between lifestyle, nutrition and human health, there is a genuine interest in eating healthy foods and developing the concept of "functional nutrition" in many developed countries. A functional food product (FFP) means a product, intended for the systematic consumption in the food ration composition by all age groups of a healthy population to reduce the risk of developing diseases associated with nutrition as well as to maintain and improve the health. This aim can be achieved due to physiologically active functional ingredients that reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases (de Almada et al., 2015).). The therapeutic and prophylactic national home-made fermented milk drinks are widely used by people for treating diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system or curing tuberculosis, etc. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been used for preparing fermented food products empirically for several thousands of years. Kurunga is a beverage resulted from mixed lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation. It is characterized by high biological activity that is due to its protein and fatty-acid composition. This beverage also contains vitamins and mineral substances. Its microbial community includes lactobacilli, lactococci, bifidobacteria, and yeast.