沙漠研究 24-1, 195-197 (2014)
Ἃ₍◊✲ 24-1, 195 - 197 (2014)
Journal of Arid Land Studies
Journal of Arid Land Studies－ DT11 Refereed Paper －㸫DT11 Refereed Paper㸫Study on Production and Properties of Kumiss of Herders
in Mongolian Dry Steppe
Satomi ISHII*1), Buho HOSINO1), Hiroshi KOMIYAMA2), Aritune UEHARA2) and Sabyr NURTAZIN3)
Abstract: Kumiss, prepared in dry inland Asia, is a carbonated beverage containing about 2% alcohol, prepared by fermenting raw
horse milk with lactic acid bacteria and yeast. The quality of Kumiss is markedly influenced by factors affecting the quality of horse
milk: grass eaten by horses, habitat and microclimate conditions of the herders’ home (temperature). The type of microorganisms
and dominant flora in Kumiss vary among families. Many lactic acid bacteria involved in fermentation belong to Lactobacillus andyeast is mainly belonging to genus Kluveromyces. At present, plastic containers mostly replaced bovine leather vessels traditionallyused by herders for fermentation. Men drink about 5 L of Kumiss daily on average, and the vitamin C level in Kumiss is 8-11
mg/100 ml. This beverage is an important source of vitamin C in the Mongolian herders’diet, which contains almost no vegetables.
Thus, in summer, daily intake of vitamins and calories in Mongolian herders are supplemented by drinking a large volume of Kumiss.
Key Words: Composition analysis, Dry Inland Asia, Horse milk, Kumiss, Microbial flora
Tuv, one family in Uburhangai, 4 families in Arhangai, and 4families in Bulgan Province.

1. Introduction
Mongolian herders’ life is markedly influenced by theweather. The diets of herders are mostly comprised of milk,
dairy products and meat, and intakes of vegetables and fruit arevery limited. Dairy products are prepared from milk ofvarious domestic animals, but horse milk is not appropriate forprocessing to cheese (Kosikowski, 1982). For this reason,
nomadic peoples have used unpasteurized horse milk forfermentation, to prepare an alcoholic beverage named kumiss.
The Kumiss-producing region overlaps with the distribution ofsteppe zone. Up to date, there is not any standard for Kumissin Mongolia. So, the quality of Kumiss is varying fromfamily to family, and between natural zones. The purpose ofthis study is to investigate the characteristics and production
methods of Kumiss in dry steppe zone conditions and indifferent herders’ families.

2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Location
Herders’ families in Tuv, Uburhangai, Arhangai, andBulgan Provinces were selected for the survey. The selection
was based on the grounds of Kumiss quality ranking among
Mongolian people. The Kumiss in the survey area is ranking
in the top five. Samples of horse milk were taken in thefollowing places: one in Uburhangai and one in BulganProvince. Samples of Kumiss were taken from one family in
582 Midorimachi Bunnkyodai, Ebetsu, Hokkaido069-8501, Japan2) Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Japan

2.3. Sample analysis
The number of viable microorganisms, pH, and alcohol
content were measured using standard methods. The
chemical and mineral composition and amino acids wereanalyzed following the standard procedure described in detailby Ishii (1999). The vitamin C level was measured using
HPLC.
2.4. Isolation and identification of lactic acid bacteria andyeasts
Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from 22 samples(Surveyed; 2002-2012) as follows, referring to the method
reported by Kozaki and Okada (1992). Colonies formed onMRS agar medium and GAM agar medium, plate count agarmedium with BCP and ACE agar medium were picked andsubjected to repeated streak cultures on MRS agar medium.
Lactic acid bacteria strains were isolated and subjected to㸦Received, September 14th, 2013; Accepted, January 10th, 2014㸧

* Corresponding Author: ishii@rakuno.ac.jp
1) Rakuno Gakuen University, Japan

2.2. Traditional meaning of milk quality by herder
Herders say that the following conditions lead to good milk
quality: first, it is original ‘Mongolian horse milk’; second‘horses eat only meadow grass’; third ‘horses are maintained ina favorable environment’, and fourth the ‘hojir (natural salts) isneeded’.
Accordingly, environmental conditions would
markedly influence milk quality and have been involved in thequality and characteristics of Kumiss.

tel: 81+11+388-4887

fax: 81+11+388-4887

3) Kazakh National University named after AI Farabi, Kazakhstan

196

Table 1. Chemical composition analysis of horse milk and kumiss (%).
Sample and Province

WaterSolidProtein

FatAshHorse milk
Uburuhangai Provunce '12

Insolubled
nitrogen

89.3

10.7

2.1

2.0

0.4

6.2

Bulgan Provunce'12

89.6

10.4

1.9

1.9

0.3

6.3

KumissBulgan Province'06 NO1

94.7

5.3

2.1

1.8

0.3

1.1

Bulgan Province '06 NO2

96.1

3.9

1.7

1.2

0.3

0.7
0.6

Arhangai Province'07 NO1

96.6

3.4

1.8

0.7

0.3

Arhangai Province '07 NO2

94.9

5.1

1.5

1.1

0.3

2.2'0䠔
Tuv Province '0８

94.6

5.4

2.1

1.9

0.3

1.1

Uburhangai Province'12 NO1

95.0

5.0

2.0

1.6

0.3

1.1

Aruhangai Province '12 NO2

94.0

6.0

2.3

1.9

0.3

1.5

Aruhanngai Province'12 NO3

95.2

4.8

2.0

1.9

0.3

0.6

Bulgan Province '12 NO4

94.9

5.1

2.1

2.1

0.3

0.6

Bulgan Province'12 NO5

94.8

5.2

2.3

1.7

0.3

0.9

Table 2. Mineral composition analysis of Horse milk and kumiss(mg/100 ml).
Sample and Province
Horse milk
Uburhangai Province '12
Bulgan Province '12kumiss
NO䠍Bulgan Province '06 NO１NO䠎
Bulgan Province '06 NO２Arhangai Province '07 NO1Arhangai Province '07 NO2
Tuv Province'08
Uburhangai Province '12 NO1Arhangai Province '12 NO2Arhangai Province '12 NO3
Boulgan Province '12 NO4
Bulgan Province '12 NO5

Na

Ca

PFeK

Mg

Zn

Cu

Mn

12
13

62
67

38
37

0.1
0.1

44
46

5
5

0.03
0.03

0
0

0
0

13
14
14
13
14
12
11
12
13
13

62
55
73
70
88
60
66
59
59
58

34
31
44
37
49
43
54
46
39
49

0.1
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1

49
52
56
51
67
47
59
55
42
64

55
7
50
6
55670.03
0.03
0.03
0.03
0
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.03

000000000
00
0.01
00.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.01

morphological observation, gram straining, and 16s
RNA-based identification. Yeasts were isolated from thesame samples as follows, referring to the method reported byIizuka and Goto (1980). Colonies formed on YM agarmedium, PDA and GAM ager medium were picked andsubjected to repeated streak cultures on YM agar medium.
Yeasts strains were isolated and subjected to morphologicalobservation.

3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Horse milking and milk quality
Horses’ milking was performed from the end of July toearly October. Milking was performed about 8 times a day
during the summer season, and the volume was 4-5
L/day/animal. Table 1 shows the chemical composition
analysis of horse milk, and Table 2 shows the results ofmineral composition analysis. There were no differencesamong samples, but the characteristics of Mongolian horse
milk cannot been evaluated by the values only.
3.2. Production method and fermentation container
In the evening, a one-day volume of raw milk was directlyadded to the fermentation container in which about 20% ofKumiss was left, and stirred with a rabble to prepare Kumiss.
The number of stirs was 3,000 to 10,000 in consideration of theamount of milk, temperature, and fermentation state. This
number was also closely involved in the quality andfermentation state of Kumiss. The temperature in thefermentation container was about 25°C. The fermentation
containers have changed from traditional vessel named‘huhuul’ (made from cow hide) to plastic containers.
3.3. Kumiss microbial isolates
The characteristic feature of Kumiss is the fermentation ofraw milk, involving the processing of only horse milk.
Processing may play an important role in retaining the active
components of horse milk, such as antibodies, and have amarked influence on the effect of Kumiss. The number ofmicroorganisms in Kumiss was 107-109 Lactic acidbacteria/ml and 106-107 yeast/ml, showing that Lactic acidbacteria accounted for a high ratio. The alcohol content was
low: 1.2-2.4%, the pH was 3.7-4.0 and the acidity was
2.3-2.6%, which are advantageous for the storage of food
(Wood and Hoge, 1985).
Table 1 shows the results of general component analysis.
The solid content decreased in Kumiss from that in milk, but it
did not vary among producing regions. Table 2 shows thecontents of trace components. These are present in trace
amounts, but ingestion of a large volume increases their intake.
These components may play important roles in the adjustmentof various physical functions. Amino acid analysis showed
great variation in quantity (Table 3). Glutamic acid wasamong the dominant amino acids in Kumiss and horse milk,too. Amino acid composition of Kumiss varied not only
between different locations, but also between seasons.
Kumiss quality is supposedly related with the higher content ofglutamic acid.
The main lactic acid bacterium involved in thefermentation of Kumiss was previously considered to be L.
bulgaricus, but this information was from a textbook written
by a German researcher in the 20th century (Rubinnsky, 1910).
In this study, a total of 14 species of Lactic acid bacteria and 11
species of yeasts belonging to 4 and 5 genera were isolated,respectively (Table 4). The same species were also foundduring previous studies done from 2002 to 2012 in Mongolia(Ishii, 2013).
Based on these findings and reports from other researchers(Ishii, 1999, 2004, 2013), multiple species of Lactic acidbacteria and yeast are involved in the fermentation of Kumiss,and the species and their proportion varied among families.
The types and constitution of microorganisms werecharacteristic to each family, suggesting the presence of a close

197

Table 3. Amino acid analysis of horse milk and kumiss (mg/100 ml).
Sample and area

Asp

ThrSerGlu

GlyAlaCysValMet

Leu

TyrHis

PheLysTrp

Arg

ProIleUburhangai' Province '12

3.0

0

0

130

2.0

0

2.0

0

2.0

0

00

2.0

0

00

4.0

Bulgan Province '12

3.0

00

130

00

2.0

0

2.0

0

0

0

4.0

0

0

00

Bulgan Province '06 NO1

21.0

33.4

55.1

13.2

15.1

71.6

3.1

45.6

25.4

96.7

7.8

0

43.3

65.5

7.2

0

45.3

50.4

Bulgan Province '06 NO2

4.3

5.3

9.9

21.5

3.0

18.4

0

7.1

4.8

24.5

4.5

0

11.7

10.3

1.5

4.9

10.5

7.2

Arhangai Province '07 NO1

6.4

12.3

7.4

26.7

4.0

17.0

3.0

7.6

7.0

29.3

7.0

0

20.0

8.8

1.5

2.2

15.4

0

Arhangai Province '07 NO2

1.8

1.7

2.0

6.5

1.7

7.4

0

0.8

1.0

5.5

1.2

0

2.6

2.7

0

3.6

13.2

0.6

Horse milk

kumissTuv Province '08

1.5

1.4

2.2

9.5

2.2

10.2

0

1.0

0.8

5.4

1.2

0

2.8

3.4

0

2.5

13.0

0.7

Uburhangai Province '12 NO1

2.0

2.0

12.0

18.0

5.0

16.0

0

3.0

1.0

9.0

4.0

3

4.0

3.0

0

6.0

29.0

3.0

Arhangai Province'12 NO2

4.0

4.0

3.0

28.0

4.016.00

4.0

2.0

1100

5.0

3.0

00

10.0

0

Arhangai province12 NO3

1.0

1.0

2.0

5.0

3.0

9.0

0

2.0

1.0

5.0

00

3.0

2.0

00

22.0

0

Bulgan Province '12 NO4

2.0

1.0

2.0

13.0

2.0

7.0

0

2.0

2.0

9.0

4.0

0

3.0

3.0

0

4.0

12.0

0

Bulgan Province '12 NO5

4.0

4.0

6.0

16.0

4.0

15.0

0

5.0

2.0

15.0

5.0

3.0

5.0

8.0

00

11.0

5.0

Table 4. Microbial flora isolated from Mongolian kumiss.
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus acidphilus
Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp.bulgaricus
Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp.lactis
Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei
Lactobacillus paracasei subsp.tolerans
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
Lactobacillus lactis subsp.cremoris
Lactobacillus brevis
Lactobacillus helveticus
Lactococcus
lactis subsp.lactis
Streptococcus salivarius subsp.thermophilus
Pediococcus acidilactis
Leuconostoc oenos

yeast
Kluyveromyces
marxianus var.marxianus
Kluyveromyces
marxianus var.lactis
Kluyveromyces
mesenteroides
Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
Saccharomyces
florentinus
Saccharomyces
fragilis
Debaryomyces polymorphus
Debaryomyces hansenii
Candida kefyr
Candida tropicalis
Torula delbrueckii

symbiotic relationship. The optimal flora for fermentation
has been selected by experience in each family. The isolated
and identified strains showed a wide growth temperature range
and grew even at lower than 25°C.
3.4. Ingestion and healing effect of Kumiss
In 2006 during the Bulgan Province survey, 35 of 40 men
and 36 of 42 women said that they drank Kumiss every day(Ishii, 2013). Some people even said they drank as many as20 L a day. The mean daily intakes of the 35 men and 36
women were 9.7 and 3 L, respectively. They drank a large
volume of Mongolian milk tea before they started drinking
Kumiss. Those who drank a large volume of Kumiss ate
almost no food. Kumiss provided about 400 kcal/L, and it
was rapidly excreted into urine.
The vitamin C level in Kumiss was 8-11 mg/100 ml. The
daily vitamin C requirement of adults is supplied by 500 ml ofKumiss. Kumiss was a valuable source of vitamin C supplyfor herders who did not ingest vegetables or fruit. The blood
vitamin C level was investigated in those who drank Kumiss ina large-scale study in 2002 (Ishii, 2004), and the intake andblood vitamin C level were positively correlated. The intakeof dairy products was high in the traditional herder diets insummer, but ingestion of a large volume of Kumiss
supplemented the traditional diets.

The effects of drinking Kumiss were described as: ‘notgetting a cold’, ‘good for the lungs’, ‘good for the stomach andintestine’ and ‘good for health’ in many answers. They saythat persons with ‘fracture’ and ‘hypertension’ must not drink it.
Kumiss has played an important role in maintaining the healthof nomads in steppes without a physician, and it is also avaluable source of water in dry regions (Takano andYamamoto, 2002).

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