• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.40-46
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• 2013

A variety of nuruk were collected from various provinces in Korea, and their microflora profiles were analyzed at the species level. A total of 42 nuruk samples were collected and when the viable cell numbers in these nuruk were enumerated, the average cell numbers of bacteria, fungi, yeast, and lactic acid bacteria from all nuruk were 7.21, 7.91, 3.49, and 4.88 log CFU/10 g, respectively. There were no significant differences in viable cell numbers of bacteria or fungi according to regions collected. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis were the predominant bacterial strains in most samples. A significant portion, 13 out of 42 nuruk, contained foodborne pathogens such as B. cereus or Cronobacter sakazakii. There were various species of lactic acid bacteria such as Enterococcus faecium and Pediococcus pentosaceus in nuruk. It was unexpectedly found that only 13 among the 42 nuruk samples contained Aspergillus oryzae, the representative saccharifying fungi in makgeolli, whereas a fungi Lichtheimia corymbifera was widely distributed in nuruk. It was also found that Pichia jadinii was the predominant yeast strain in most nuruk, but the representative alcohol fermentation strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was isolated from only 18 out of the 42 nuruk. These results suggested that a variety of species of fungi and yeast were distributed in nuruk and involved in the fermentation of makgeolli. In this study, a total of 64 bacterial species, 39 fugal species, and 15 yeast species were identified from nuruk. Among these strains, 37 bacterial species, 20 fungal species, and 8 yeast species were distributed less than 0.1%.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.212-217
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• 1999

The effects of nuruk and wheat bran on cholesterol level in serum and activities of free radical metabolizing enzymes were investigated in rats. The rats were fed a diet containing nuruk or wheat bran for one month. Body weight and food intake were measured. Animals were sacrificed after one month. The increased food efficiency ratio throughout whole growth period was observed in the rats fed with either nuruk containing Aspergillus terreus or wheat bran compared with control group on normal diet. In the rats fed with nuruk, hepatic GSH content, glutathione S transferase activity, hepatic cytochrome P 450 content, and aniline hydroxylase activities were generally increased. In the rats fed with nuruk containing other fungi except Aspergillus terreus, xanthine oxidase activity was decreased. The decreased cholesterol level in serum was observed in rats fed with nuruk prepared from Aspergillus terreus and wheat bran. LDL cholesterol level was decreased in rats fed with nuruk prepared with other fungi such as Penicillium sp. and Rhizopus sp. But HDL cholesterol level was increased in all groups fed with nuruk from any fungi and wheat bran. These results suggested that nuruk or wheat bran supplemented diet might exert their effect by decreasing cholesterol level in serum and amount of oxygen free radical level.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.767-774
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• 1997

For the standardization and quality improvement of traditional Korean Nuruk, 120 strains of fungi were isolated from Nuruks and 18 strains of them were selected as strains analysing the amylase and flavor. The genera of these fungi were identified as Aspergillus sp. (14 strains), Penicillium sp. (3 strains) and Rhizopus sp. (1 strains) by the conventional slide culture. Most of these fungi showed a better productivity of the saccharogenic and dextrinogenic enzymes in raw wheat bran culture than in cooked wheat bran culture. The ability of acid and flavor production was good in the raw wheat bran culture, and aflatoxins were not produced under the same culture. Penicillium sp. and Rhizopus sp. had high cell growth and amylast activity. Mixed culture of Aspergillus sp. No.3-6 and Penicillium sp. No.7-7 revealed a high liquefying and saccharifying activity as well as high flavors production. These results indicated that these fungi was proper strains for making Nuruk of good quality.

• Mycobiology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.278-282
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to find useful fungi with ${\alpha}$-amylase activity from the Korean traditional nuruk for the quality of traditional Korean alcoholic beverage. In this study, 165 samples of traditional nuruk were collected from 170 regions throughout Korea and the fungi were isolated to a total of 384 strains. In order to investigate the effect of microflora on nuruk, ${\alpha}$-amylase activity, saccharogenic power (SP), starch hydrolysis activity and acid producing activity were evaluated. Ten strains were selected by ${\alpha}$-amylase activity, which ranged from 458.47 to 1,202.75 U/g. The size of the discolored zone for the starch hydrolysis activity of each fungus ranged from 0.3 to 2 cm. The SP of the 10 strains ranged from 228.8 to 433.4 SP. Of the 10 stains, three were identified as Aspergillus oryzae, two as Aspergillus flavus, two as Lichtheimia sp., one as Rhizopus oryzae and two as other strains. The total aflatoxins present in the nuruks were examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The 10 nuruks had less than 1.11 ppb of aflatoxins.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.573-580
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• 2014

The enzymatic activity of Nuruk and the quality properties of Yakju were investigated according to different fungi. The fungi that were used in this study were Aspergillus kawachii KCCM 32819, Aspergillus niger KCCM 32005, Rhizopus japonicus KCCM 11604, Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11272, Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11273, Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11276, and Mucor rouxii KCCM 60148. The study results are as follows. The saccharogenic power of Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11272 Nuruk was the highest (3,647.72 SP/g) among all the samples. The ${\alpha}$-amylase production and protease activities were highest (3.76 DU and 4.7 tyrosine mg/min, respectively) in the Rhizopus japonicus KCCM 11604 Nuruk. The pH levels of the Yakju made with commercial Nuruk and Rhizopus japonicus KCCM 11604 Nuruk were 4.14 and 4.07, respectively. The total titratable acid content of the Yakju made with Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11273 Nuruk was the highest (0.56%) among all the samples. Rhizopus japonicus KCCM 11604 and Rhizopus oryzae KCCM 11272 had the highest ethanol yields (15.18% and 15.10%, respectively). In the sensory evaluation carried out in this study, the panel preferred the Yakju made with Rhizopus japonicus KCCM 11604 Nuruk. Overall, however, the panel did not like the Yakju made with Aspergillus niger KCCM 32005 Nuruk.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.303-308
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• 2000

The character-istics of the volatile flavor components of traditional Korean Nuruk produced by Aspergillus oryze NR 3-6 and Penicillium expansum NR 7-7 were investigated. Volatile flavor of Nuruk was identified twenty-one components by gas chromatography-mass spectronmeter. Major flavor components were alkanes such as tridecan, tetradecan, penta-decane, hexadecane, heptadecane, octadecan, undecane, and dodecane.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2015.11a
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• pp.11-11
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• 2015

A total of sixty-six samples of Nuruk, a fermention starter used to make the Korean traditional rice wine, Makgeolli, were collected from central and southern regions of Korea in 2013 and 2014. We classified two groups of the Nuruk samples, "commercial" and "home-made", according to the manufacturing procedure and purpose of use. Commercial Nuruks were made in a controlled environment where the temperature and humidity are fixed and the final product is supplied to Makgeolli manufacturers. Home-made Nuruks were made under uncontrolled conditions in the naturally opened environment and were intended for use in the production of small amounts of home-brewed Makgeolli. We obtained more than five hundred isolates including filamentous fungi and yeasts from the Nuruk samples followed by identification of fungal species. Also we stored glycerol stocks of each single isolate at $-70^{\circ}C$. We identified the species of each isolate based on the sequences of ITS regions amplified with two different universal primer pairs. We also performed morphological characterization of the filamentous fungi and yeast species through observations under the microscope. We investigated the major fungal species of commercial and home-made Nuruks by counting the colony forming units (CFU) and analyzing the occurrence tendency of fungal species. While commercial Nuruks contained mostly high CFU of yeasts, home-made Nuruks showed relatively high occurrence of filamentous fungi. One of the representative Nuruk manufacturers used both domestic wheat bran and imported ones, mainly from US, as raw material. Depending on the source of ingredient, the fungal diversity was somewhat different. Another commercial Nuruk sample was collected twice, once in 2013 and again in 2014, and showed different diversity of fungal species in each year. Nuruks obtained from the southern regions of Korea and Jeju island showed high frequency of yeast such as Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Pichia species as well as unique filamentous fungus, Monascus species. S. fibuligera was easily found in many Nuruk samples with high CFU. The major filamentous fungi were Aspergillus, Lichtheimia, Mucor and Penicillium species. In order to further our understanding of the isolates and their potential industrial applications, we assayed three enzymes, alpha amylase, glucoamylase and acid protease from 140 isolates out of about five hundred isolates and selected about 10 excellent strains with high enzyme activities. With these fungal isolates, we will perform omics analyses including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolic pathway analyses, and metabolomics followed by whole genome sequencing of unique isolates associated with the basic research of Nuruk and that also has applications in the Makgeolli making process.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.348-363
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• 2017

We analyzed the mixed culture characteristics of isolated brewing fungi obtained from Korean traditional nuruk for their development as fermentation starters. In a previous study, we selected appropriate fungi strains based on their large fungi bodies and strong enzyme activities. These fungi strains were mixed cultured under various combination of ratios, pHs and temperatures. As a result, total acidities of R. delemar mixed culture media were higher than those of A. oryzae cultured at $20^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$. The pHs of A. luchuensis 34-1 and A. oryzae 37-7 as well as R. delemar 58-8 and A. oryzae 37-7 mixed culture media gradually increased with the culture period. On the contrary, total acidities of the mixed culture media gradually decreased. ${\alpha}-Amylase$ activities of R. delemar 26-4 and R. oryzae 82-7 mixed culture media were strong at $20^{\circ}C$ and pH 4, glucoamylase activities of R. delemar 58-8 and A. oryzae 37-7 were strong at $37^{\circ}C$, pH 3 and 1:2 ratio, and acidic protease activities of R. delemar 26-4 and A. oryzae 78-5 were strong at $20^{\circ}C$, pH 4 and 1:4 ratio. This study provides the optimal mixed culture conditions for fermentation starters based on changes in pH and total acidity, favorable enzyme activities, and fungi varieties.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2016

We analyzed the cultural characteristics of isolated brewing fungi for developing fermentation starters. In a previous study, we collected 87 domestic nuruk, from which 481 fungi strains were isolated and 11 were selected showing improved productivity. After culturing these 11 fungi strains in several types of media, temperatures, carbon and nitrogen sources, Rhizopus sp. grew well in MEA, ME20S, PDA medium while Aspergillus sp. grew well in ME20S and YES. Both Rhizopus sp. and Aspergillus sp. survived well at optimal growth temperatures of 30 and $37^{\circ}C$. Rhizopus sp. utilized lactose, glucose and peptone sources while Aspergillus sp. utilized glucose, mannose, fructose and yeast extract sources. ${\alpha}-Amylase$ activity was excellent in L. ramosa CN044, R. oryzae 82-7(MEB), R. oryzae CN174 and A. oryzae 58-11(WEB) culture extracts. This study suggests that R. delemar 26-4, 58-8 and A. oryzae 78-5, 37-7 might be appropriate fungi strains for fermentation starters based on development of large fungi bodies and their good enzyme activities.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.187-190
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• 2012

Various koji were prepared by fungi isolated from traditional nuruk and their quality characteristics were investigated. Acidity and saccharification power of their koji were ranged in 5.0~6.8 and 128sp~241sp. Nine fungi which were showed good quality and sensory evaluation were identified by analysis of their nucleotide sequences with PCR-amplified 18S rDNA internal transcribed spacer-1(ITS-1) and ITS-4 genes. Among them, six strains were identified as Aspergillus oryzae and the other strains were identified as Mycocladus corymbiferus, Rhizo-pus oryzae, Lichtheimia corymbifera.