• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.560-566
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• 2010

Changes in characteristics of low-salted Kochujang added with mixed additives (licorice 0.8%, mustard 0.7%, chitosan 2%) were investigated during fermentation for 40 days. There was no significant difference in viable and yeast cell counts and color among all treatments, whereas lactic acid bacteria counts of 6.8% and 5.9% salted Kochujang added with the mixed additives (p<0.05) were significantly lower than that of control. The phenomenon of abnormal fermentation was observed on surface of low-salted Kochujang but not the low-salted Kochujang added with the mixed additives. The level of amino nitrogen in low-salted Kochujang was close to that of 8.5% salted Kochujang at 20 days of fermentation; however, the amino nitrogen content in 5.9% salted Kochujang added with the additives was 1.6 times higher than in 8.5% salted Kochujang at 40 days. In sensory evaluation, 5.9% salted Kochujang with the additives had the highest score in overall palatability. These results indicate that salt contents of Kochujang could be lowered up to 5.9% by addition of the mixture of licorice, mustard and chitosan, resulting in improvement of palatability and shortening of fermentation time.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.287-294
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• 2007

Effect of combined use of anti-microbial materials, such as ethanol, mustard and chitosan, on the quality of low salted kochujang was investigated during fermentation at $20^{\circ}C$ for 12 weeks. Viable cells of yeast increased remarkably during fermentation, but increasing ratio was significantly low in ethanol-mustard added kochujang. Activity of ${\beta}-amylase$ was high in anti-microbial material added kochujang, whereas ${\alpha}-amylase$ and protease activities were low in those groups. Water activity decreased during fermentation with being low in the control kochujang prepared with normal-salt without anti-microbial materials. Hunter L-, a- and b-values of kochujang increased during fermentation, and the degree of increase in total color difference $({\Delta}E)$ was low in ethanol added kochujang. Titratable acidity of kochujang was decreased in anti-microbial materials added group at late aging period, and oxidation-reduction potential was low in the control kochujang. Total sugar and reducing sugar contents of kochujang were high in ethanol-mustard added kochujang. Ethanol contents of kochujang increased at late aging period, with high values in ethanol-chitosan added kochujang. Amino nitrogen content increased during middle of fermentation, and ammonia nitrogen content of kochujang decreased in ethanol-mustard-chitosan added group during fermentation. After 12 weeks fermentation, sensory results showed that ethanol or ethanol-mustard added kochujang were the highest in color and flavor with the highest overall acceptability.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.449-455
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• 2005

To reduce saft content of kochujang, various combinations of sub-materials such as ethanol mustard and chitosan were added to kochujang, and their effects on microbial characteristics, enzyme activities, and physicochemical characteristics of kochujang were investigated after 12 weeks of fermentation. Activities of ${\beta}$-amylase and pretense were low in ethanol-mustard-chitosan-added kochujang, whereas no significant difference was observed in ${\alpha$-amylase activity among all groups. Number of viable yeast cells decreased remarkably in mustard-added kochujang during late aging period, and anaerobic bacterial counts decreased in sub-material-added groups. Consistency of kochujang increased by addition of sub-materials, and oxidation-reduction potential was low in chitosan-added group. Mustard-chitosan-added kochujang showed lowest increase in total color difference(${\Dalta}E$) and decrease in water activity. PH of kochujang wns highest in mustard-chitosan-added kochujang, resulting in significantly increased titratable acidity. Addition of sub-material increased reducing sugar contents of kochujang, whereas ethanol production was significantly repressed in mustard-chitosan-added kochujang. Amino nitrogen content was Highest in mustard-chitosan-added kochujang during late aging period, whereas ammonia nitrogen content was lower in ethanol-mustard-added kochujang. Results of sensory evaluation indicated ethanol-mustard-added kochujang was more acceptable than other groups in taste and overall acceptability.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.281-287
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• 2008

Effect of combined use of anti-microbial materials, such as alcohol, mustard and chitosan, or pasteurization on the quality of low salted kochujang was investigated during storage at $30^{\circ}C$ for 12 weeks. Activity of amylase decreased during storage, with lower activity in pasteurized kochujang than the other groups. Acidic protease activity increased during storage, but neutral protease activity decreased after 4 weeks. Viable cells of yeast increased during storage, but bacterial counts decreased gradually and did not show any remarkable difference among the test groups. Hunter a-values decreased as storage time increased, whereas L- and b-values decreased after 4 weeks and the degree of increase in total color difference (${\Delta}E$) was low in the supplementary ingredients added kochujang. The moisture contents and water activities decreased during storage with being lower in supplementary ingredients added groups. Titratable acidity of kochujang was decreased after 4 weeks of storage with the highest in combination of the supplementary ingredients added group. Oxidation-reduction potential was low in the supplementary ingredients added kochujang. Total sugar and reducing sugar contents of kochujang decreased during storage, with the highest contents in the supplementary ingredients added group. Ethanol content of kochujang increased during storage, whereas ethanol production was reduced in ethanol added one. Amino-nitrogen and ammonia-nitrogen contents decreased during storage with being lower in kochujang prepared with supplementary ingredients. Therefore, supplementary ingredients added kochujang would be effective for extending shelf-life of kochujang.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.298-302
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• 2006

Kochujang was fermented using hot red pepper, meju prepared with soybean and rice, and malt-digested syrup. To reduce salt content, mustard powder (1.2%, w/w) was added to Korean traditional kochujang with 4-10% salt, and microbial characteristics, enzyme activities, and gas formation in kochujang were evaluated during fermentation for 120 days at $25^{\circ}C$. Yeast numbers of all treatments maintained 2.43-2.86 log CFU/g up to 60 days fermentation, indicating salt concentration had no effect on yeast count. Activities of ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-amylases, and neutral and acidic proteases of kochujang added with mustard powder were slightly higher than those of control group. Total accumulative volume of gas produced during fermentation of kochujang without mustard powder (control group) was 5,892 mL/pack, but decreased to 34-99 mL/pack in low-salted kochujang (4 and 6% salt) added with mustard powder. Major gas produced was carbon dioxide (79-80%) with oxygen content less than 1.25%(v/v). Results indicate salt concentration of kochujang could be lowered up to 6-8% by addition of mustard powder without gas formation and quality alteration during distribution.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.463-467
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• 2005

To reduce salt content in Korean traditional kochujang, horseradish powder (1.2%, w/w) was added to kochujang with 4-10% salt, and its microbial characteristics, enzyme activities, and gas formation in kochujang were evaluated during fermentation far 120 days at $25^{\circ}C$. All treatments of kochujang had no effects on total viable bacterial numbers, which kept constant level, during fermentation (7.32-8.765 log CFU/g). Yeast numbers did not change under all treatments up to 90 days of fermentation, then decreased thereafter, ${\alpha}$-Amylase and ${\beta}$-amylase, and neutral- and acid-pretense activities of kochujang added with horseradish powder were higher than those of control group. ${\beta}$-Amylase activity of kochujang increased in proportion to salt concentration. Total accumulative volume of gas produced during fermentation of kochujang without horseradish powder was 5,892 mL/pack then decreased to 121-347mL/pack with low-salted kochujang (salt 4%, 6%) added with horseradish powder, Major gas produced was $CO_{2}(74-80%)$. Results indicate salt contents of kochujang could be lowered up to 6% by addition of horseradish powder without gas formation and quality alteration.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 2004

Effects of sub-materials such as, ethanol, mustard, and chitosan, on enzymatic, microbial and physicochemical characteristics of kochujang were investigated during fermentation. Activity of ${\alpha}$-amylase was low in chitosan-added kochujang, whereas those of ${\beta}$-amylase and pretense did not show any remarkable difference. Viable cells of yeast and bacteria decreased in sub-material-added kochujang during fermentation, with yeast counts decreasing more rapidly in ethanol- and mustard-added kochujang than that with chitosan. Consistency of kochujang decreased during fermentation, with the highest consistency observed in ethanol-added kochujang. Oxidation-reduction potential was low in chitosan-added kochujang. Water activity of all kochujang groups decreased during fermentation with the lowest in ethanol-added kochujang. Hunter L-, a-, and b-values of chitosan-added kochujang were higher than other groups, whereas increase in total color difference of low-salt without sub-material group was lowest pH of kochujang was the highest in ethanol-added kochujang, whereas titratable acidity increased remarkably in chitosan-added group. Total sugar and reducing sugar contents of kochujang were high in ethanol-and mustard-added groups, whereas ethanol production decreased remarkably in mustard-added kochujang. Amino nitrogen content was highest in low-salt without sub-material kochujang during late aging period. Ammonia nitrogen content was lower in mustard-added kochujang. After 12 weeks of fermentation, ethanol-added kochujang was more acceptable than mustard-and chitosan-added groups in taste, color, and overall acceptabilities.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.835-841
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• 2002

To reduce the salt content of Korean traditional kochujang, horseradish and mustard powder (1.2%) were added to kochujang ingredients with $4{\sim}6%$ of sodium chloride, and their physicochemical characteristics were monitored with those of the control (10% salt added) during fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$ for 120 days. The pH of kochujang gradually decreased and acidities increased at low-salt concentration. The salt lowered the acid production in proportion to the salt concentration. The amino-type nitrogen in kochujang increased during fermentation at higher proportion with lower salt concentration. Free amino acids showed the same trend as amino-type nitrogen, and their major amino acids were in order of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and serine. Kochujang containing horseradish or mustard showed superior qualuty than the control, and 6% of salt was the acceptable level for low-salt kochujang preparation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.253-261
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• 1981

Fermented foods available in Korea may be classified into four groups, namely, fermented soybean products, fermented cereal products, fermented vegetable products, and fermented fishery products based on raw materials used. The representative fermented foods based on soybean are Kanjang(soysauce), Doenjang(fermented soybean pastes), and Kochujang(red pepper added-fermented soybean paste). Such fermented products are made using Meju(functioning as a starter and prepared by fermentation of steamed soybean mash) as an essential ingredient, and used widely as a soup base and/or in seasoning side-dishes for everyday meals year around. Excepting Sikhae, all fermented products based on rice and other cereal grains are of alcoholic nature. Takju (Makgeolli) used to be made using rice as the major raw material, however, mainly due to the shortage of rice in recent years, other cereals, such as, barely, corn, and wheat flours are also used to replace rice today. Owing to such changes in the raw materials. the popularity of Takju has been somewhat reduced, yet it is still widely consumed in rural areas. Although Chungju is a popular rice wine with superior qualify over Takju, the amount consumed is considerably limited. The highest qualify rice wine, Bupju, in particular, is made by a low temperature fermentation using glutinous rice. Kimchi is an unique fermented vegetable product of long tradition in Korea. Although it was for consumption mainly in winter season serving as a source of vitamins, today it is widely used throughout the year. Except Kkakdugi and Dongchimi, all of the fermented vegetable products contain salted Korean cabbage as an essential item, while they abound in varieties depending on material composition and methods of processing, and also on seasons and localities Next to Kimchi in this category is Kkakdugi made of raddish in popularity and quantity consumed. The four groups of fermented food products described above are reviewed in some detail and evaluated in terms of their nutritional significances, processes and microorganisms involved. and their commercial potentials. Jeotkal (or Jeot) is a name given to all fermented products of fishery origin. A number of Jeot can be prepared by adding salt and allowing fermentation to the raw materials such as shrimp, anchovy octopus, clam, oyster, etc.