• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.533-538
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• 2020

To investigate the effect of the predominant microorganisms in kimchi on quality, Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC 8293 was used as starter culture during kimchi fermentation. A higher number of lactic acid bacteria and lower initial pH were observed in starter kimchi than in non-starter kimchi in the early stage of fermentation. The concentrations of the main metabolite, lactic acid, were 69.88 mM and 83.85 mM for the non-starter and starter fermented kimchi, respectively. The free sugar concentrations of starter kimchi decreased earlier than those of non-starter kimchi, and the levels of free sugars in both kimchi samples decreased during fermentation. At the end of fermentation, non-starter kimchi had a softer texture than starter kimchi, suggesting that L. mesenteroides is useful in extending shelf life. Sensory evaluation showed that starter kimchi had higher sourness and lower bitterness and astringency values, resulting in high sensory quality. These results suggest that the L. mesenteroides ATCC 8293 strain could be a potential starter culture in kimchi.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.246-251
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• 1999

To extend the storage period and to inhibit contamination of Kimchi by Escherichia coli, conditions of Kimchi brining and effects of the fermentation starter, halophilic Lactobacillus HL-48 were investigated. Optimum brining condition for Kimchi was accomplished in 15% NaCl and at pH2.5-3.0 adjusted by lactic acid. Starter-treated Kimchi showed pH 4.2 after 18hr fermentation, while the pH of starter-untreated Kimchi resulted in 3.3. After 36hr fermentation, the number of E. coli in starter-treated Kimchi was found clearly to decrease and not detected macroscopically, but contamination of E. coli (5.3$\times$103CFU/ml) was observed in starter-untreated sample. Organic acids in Kimchi contained organic acids such as oxalic acid, citric acid, malic acid and lactic acid. among ther, lactic acid content was remarkably high in the early fermentation stages. However, from 24hr fermentation, lactic acid content of starter-untreated Kimchi was higher than that of starter-treated Kimchi.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.342-347
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• 1988

This studies were carried out to investigated the effects of starter on the fermentation of Kimchi. The organisms isolated from Kimchi, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus cerevisiae and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, were used as starter for preparation of Kimchi. The fermentation of starter inoculated Kimchi was enhanced compared with that of starter not inoculated Kimchi at $25^{\circ}C$. The mixed strain was more effective than single strain on the fermentation Kimchi. The fermentation of starter incoculated Kimchi was enhanced by addition of red pepper, whereas inhibited during first days by addition of Singer. The fermentation period of starter inoculated Kimchi was shortened about 24hours compared with that of starter not inoculated Kimchi at $25^{\circ}C$. The sensory score of starter inoculated Kimchi was better than that of starter not inoculated Kimchi in odor, flavor and overall acceptability. The effect of starter was significant in odor of Kimchi.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.559-568
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• 2015

Kimchi is a traditional Korean vegetable product that is naturally fermented by various microorganisms present in the raw materials. Among these microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria dominate the fermentation process. Natural fermentation with unsterilized raw materials leads to the growth of various lactic acid bacteria, resulting in variations in the taste and quality of kimchi, which may make it difficult to produce industrial-scale kimchi with consistent quality. The use of starter cultures has been considered as an alternative for the industrial production of standardized kimchi, and recent trends suggest that the demand for starter cultures is on the rise. However, several factors should be carefully considered for the successful application of starter cultures for kimchi fermentation. In this review, we summarize recent studies on kimchi starter cultures, describe practical problems in the application of industrial-scale kimchi production, and discuss the directions for further studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.208-216
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• 2019

Leuconostoc spp. are generally utilized as kimchi starters, because these strains are expected to have beneficial effects on kimchi fermentation, including improvement of sensory characteristics. Here, we developed a detection method for verifying the presence of the kimchi starter Leuconostoc mesenteroides WiKim33, which is used for control of kimchi fermentation. A primer set for multiplex polymerase chain reaction was designed based on the nucleotide sequence of the plasmids in strain WiKim33, and their specificity was validated against 45 different strains of Leuconostoc spp. and 30 other strains. Furthermore, the starter strain consistently tested positive, regardless of the presence of other bacterial species in starter kimchi during the fermentation period. Our findings showed that application of a strain-specific primer set for strain WiKim33 presented a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for detection of this kimchi starter strain during natural kimchi fermentation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.622-633
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• 2024

For quality standardization, the application of functional lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as starter cultures for food fermentation is a well-known method in the fermented food industry. This study assessed the effect of adding a non-thermally microbial inactivated starter culture to kimchi, a traditional Korean food, in standardizing its quality. In this study, pretreatment based on sterilization processes, namely, slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) disinfection and ultraviolet C light-emitting diode (UVC-LED) of raw and subsidiary kimchi materials were used to reduce the initial microorganisms in them, thereby increasing the efficiency and value of the kimchi LAB starter during fermentation. Pretreatment sterilization effectively suppressed microorganisms that threatened the sanitary value and quality of kimchi. In addition, pretreatment based on sterilization effectively reduced the number of initial microbial colonies in kimchi, creating an environment in which kimchi LAB starters could settle or dominate, compared to non-sterilized kimchi. These differences in the initial microbial composition following the sterilization process and the addition of kimchi LAB starters led to differences in the metabolites that positively affect the taste and flavor of kimchi. The combined processing technology used in our study, that is, pre-sterilization and LAB addition, may be a powerful approach for kimchi quality standardization.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.1717-1726
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• 2013

Fermentation characteristics and health functionalities of kimchi by inoculating kimchi lactic acid bacteria (LAB) starters were studied. We manufactured single LAB starter kimchi (Lactobacillus plantarum pnuK, Lactobacillus plantarum 3099K, Leuconostoc mesenteroides pnuK), mixed LAB starter kimchi (Lb. plantarum pnu/Leu. mesenteroides pnuK, Lb. plantarum 3099/Leu. mesenteroides pnuK) with inoculum size of $10^6$ CFU/g, as well as naturally fermented kimchi (NK), and fermented them for 6 days at $15^{\circ}C$. The pH and acidity of the early phase of fermentation were not different, but kimchi with the starters showed rapid changes in the pH and acidity from 2 days of fermentation. As the fermentation progressed, the level of total aerobic bacteria and Lactobacillus sp. increased similarly with or without Lb. plantarum (LP) inoculation. However, the level of Leuconostoc sp. was high in kimchi inoculated with Leuconostoc sp. starter. In the sensory evaluation test, kimchi with starters received higher overall acceptability scores than those of NK; mixed starter added kimchi earned the highest score. In DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, kimchi with the starters exhibited higher activity than that of NK. In the MTT assay of HCT-116 and HT-29 human colon cancer cells, NK showed inhibition rates of 63.4 and 51.9%, but LPpnuK achieved 77.1 and 68.8%, respectively. This study showed that inoculating starters in kimchi increased in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activities, and single starter (LP) added kimchi revealed higher functionality than the kimchi with mixed starter. Kimchis with the starters effectively up-regulated the gene expressions of the pro-apoptotic gene of Bax, but down-regulated Bcl-2. They promoted expressions of p53 and p21, and suppressed expressions of inflammation-related genes, iNOS and COX-2, compared with NK. Taken together, it is expected that using starters may help manufacture kimchi with improved sensory quality and health functionality.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.801-807
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• 2016

In Western countries, kimchi, the Korean traditional fermented cabbage, is considered to be a healthy. However, it is one of the main sources of the high sodium content of the Korean diet. In order to decrease the sodium content, we manufactured a low-sodium kimchi (LK, salinity 1.0%) and 4 additional low-sodium kimchi starters in which each of 4 lactic acid bacteria (Lb. sakei 1, Lb. sakei 2, Lb. palntarum and W. koreensis) were added. The LKL1 to LKL4 samples were prepared by adding 4 single LAB starters, each with an inoculum size of $10^6CFU/g$, when the cabbage was mixed with kimchi sauce. The kimchi starters were fermented at $10^{\circ}C$ until reaching 0.5% acidity, and then stored at $-1.5^{\circ}C$ until reaching 0.75% acidity. The pH and acidity of the starter kimchi changed more rapidly in the early phase of fermentation (up to 0.75% acidity) than control low-sodium kimchi. After the acidity of the kimchi starters reached 0.75% it remained constant. As the fermentation progressed, the total aerobic and lactic acid bacteria concentrations in the kimchi starter with added Lb. sakei 1 were the same as in the control low-sodium kimchi. The low-sodium kimchi fermentation of the kimchi starter with added Lb. palntarum progressed differently due to a difference in acid resistance. The kimchi starter with added Lb. sakei 2 had an overall liking score that was slightly higher than that of the control low-sodium kimchi due to a lower off-flavor.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.806-813
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• 1996

Five strains of psychrotrophic lactic acid bacteria which had been isolated from kimchi were inoculated as kimchi starters, and then their effects were investigated during fermentation at $8^{\circ}C$. The initial numbers of Gram negatives and coliforms in no-starter-inoculated kimchi were $4.0{\times}10^{6}CFU/ml\;and\;3.2{\times}10^4CFU/ml$ respectively, while these of lactic acid bacteria were only $1.6{\times}10^3CFU/ml$. Starter-inoculated kimchi showed sharp decreases in Gram negatives and coliforms from initial stage, but no-starter-inoculated kimchi showed slow increases in those bacteria in the early stage, and sharp decreases after 10 days. It took 10 days in no-starter-inoculated kimchi, $4{\sim}6$ days in Leuconostoc-inoculated kimchi and 2 days in Lactobacillus-inoculated kimchi for lactic acid bacteria to reach stationary phase of growth. No-starter-inoculated kimchi required 10 days to reach optimum ripened state, while all starter-inoculated kimchi samples required 4 days. The inoculations of all these starters did not cause over acidifications. Remarkable softening occurred in Leu. dextranicum-inoculated kimchi in 6 days, but did not in the rest. Except the Leu. paramesenteroides-inoculated kimchi, the qualities of Leuconostoc-inoculated kimchi were as good as those of no-starter-inoculated kimchi, but those of Lactobacillus-inoculated kimchi were not so good.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.790-799
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of yeast addition as starter on kimchi fermentation. The strains used as starter were Saccharomyces sp. YK-17 and Saccharomyces fermentati YK-19 isolated from kimchi, grew under anaerobic condition and low temperature, which showed the acid and base resistances. Chemical and microfloral changes, as well as the sensory properties of starter added kimchi during fermentation were compared with the control fermented without starter. The acidity of kimchi juice was lower and pH was higher in starter added kimchi than the control. Particularly addition of S. fermentati YK-19 prolonged the optimally fermented period (pH 4.0, acidity $0.6{\sim}0.8%$) up to more than 63%. The content of lactic acid, the major non-volatile organic acid in kimchi, was increased rapidly followed by S. sp. YK-17 and S. fermentati YK-19 group. The microfloral changes were found a little different among the samples. Among the microorganisms, Leuconostoc sp. and Lactobacillus sp. showed highest change, and Streptococcus sp. and Pediococcus sp. showed ralatively low change. The growth of Lactobacillus sp. which was the main acidifing microorganism was inhibited by starter addition, particularly by S. fermentati YK-19. The sensory characteristics of acidic and moldy flavor were significantly reduced by the addition, while fresh flavor was increased in starter added group.