Abstract
Effect of covering various levels(0, 1, 3, 5 and 7% per Chinese radish weight) of bamboo(Pseudosasa japonica Makino) leaves on the surface of Dongchimi was studied in the course of fermenting at 1$0^{\circ}C$ up to 75 days. Physicochemical, microbiogical, and sensory characteristics of Dongchimi were analyzed at regular intervals of 5 to 7 days during fermentation. Both the degree of pH drop from the initial 6.47~6.54and increase total acid content from the initial 0.004%, with the accumulation of organic acids tended to be more gradual depending upon the amounts of bamboo leaves covered. The increases of total solid content and turbidity were also suppressed in similar patterns, notably after 13 days of fermentation. The growth of total bacteria(1.5$\times$10$^4$cfu/ml, initial)was partly inhibited while that of lactic acid bacteria(1.8$\times$10$^4$cfu/ml, initial)was favorably encouraged by the presence of bamboo leaves. As a result of sensory evaluation, Dong-chimi covered with 1 and 3% bamboo leaves on showed the higher scores significantly(p<0.05, p<0.01, p<0.001) in overall acceptability till 39 days. But after 61 days, those covered with 3 and 5% bamboo leaves were rather preferable than any other one.