Selection of Starter Cultures and Optimum Conditions for Lactic Acid Fermentation of Onion

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from various fruits and vegetables were screened in order to determine appropriate fermentation starters for manufacturing functional fermented onion juice. From the initial screening test comprising more than 700 isolated LAB, 16 isolates were selected based on their acid production rate. Among the selected isolates, the fermentation broth of KC-007 exhibited the highest electron donating and nitrite scavenging activities, with values at pH 1.2 of 95.6 and 68.7%, respectively. From the overall results obtained in this study, we finally selected the bacterium KC-007 as a fermentation starter. This bacterium was identified and named as Pediococcus pentosaceus based on its morphological and physiological characteristics, carbon-utilization pattern (as assessed using an API 50CHL kit), and molecular genetic characteristics (as assessed using the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene). The optimal temperature, pH, and starter inoculation concentration (v/v) required for growth of the isolated strain were $40^{\circ}C$, pH 4.0-6.0, and 2%(v/v), respectively.