Microbial Characterization of a Zambian Honey Vinegar

Forest Fruits Organic Honey Vinegar (FFOHV) is a spontaneously fermented (yeast) and acetified (Acetic Acid Bacteria—AAB) Miombo Woodland honey vinegar developed in Zambia. Live vinegars containing live microbial cultures are marketed for their probiotic health benefits. The correlation between a well-developed gut microbiome and human health is well studied and fermented products such as live vinegar containing AAB contribute to a healthy gut microbiome. This study details a metagenomic analysis of stable, bottled FFOHV (Zambia) alongside two commercially available live vinegar products: Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (BOACV) and Nature's Source Apple Cider Vinegar (NSACV). FFOHV contained representatives of five bacterial and nine fungal genera, compared to BOACV with two bacterial and five fungal, and NSACV containing no bacterial and six fungal genera. FFOHV and BOACV showed a dominance of Komagataeibacter bacterial species. The dominant yeast was Vanrija humicola present in all three vinegar samples. FFOHV contained greater diversity of genera, with the notable species Monascus purpureus—a microbe that produces several health-enhancing compounds. The analysis showed that FFOHV is a microbially diverse product containing several potentially health-enhancing microbes. Graphical Abstract Text: This study presents a metagenomic analysis of Forest Fruits Organic Honey Vinegar (FFOHV) from Zambia, compared with two commercial live cider vinegars: Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (BOACV) and Nature's Source Apple Cider Vinegar (NSACV). FFOHV exhibited a richer microbial diversity, containing five bacterial and nine fungal genera, including the health-promoting species Monascus purpureus. Both FFOHV and BOACV were dominated by Komagataeibacter species, with Vanrija humicola as the prevalent yeast across all samples. This confirmed FFOHV's unique potential probiotic benefits.