• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.132-136
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• 2000

We recently identified Leuconostoc gelidum, a typical psychrophile, as a microbial component from kimchi that has been laboratory-prepared and fermented at 20$^{\circ}C$ . However, it has been shown that the growth of leuconostocs in food products is highly influenced by fermenting temperature. To determine the distribution of L. gelidum species in kimchi fermented at a lower temperature , 8$^{\circ}C$, we characterized a total of 64 dextran-forming strains isolated from kimchi using a polyphsic method including 16S rDNA sequencing and DNA-DNA gybridization. We found that 80% of the isolated were L. gelidum, which has been found mainly at chill-stored meat products. We also found that L. gelidum could be a dominant Leuconostoc species in so-called KimJang Kimchi, which is traditionally prepared at lat fall to be preserved during winter in Korea. These results suggest that L. gelidum can be a predominant species in kimchi especially when fermented at low temperature.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2007

Insoluble glucans synthesized by Streptococcus mutans enhance the pathogenicity of oral biofilm by promoting the adherence and accumulation of cariogenic bacteria on the surface of the tooth. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Leuconostoc spp. on the in vitro formation of S. mutans biofilm. Three strains, Leuconostoc gelidum A TCC 49366, Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. cremoris A TCC 19254 and Leuconostoc mesenteroides ssp. mesenteroides ATCC 8293, were used in this study. They exhibited profound inhibitory effects on the formation of S. mutans biofilm and on the proliferation of S. mutans. The water-soluble polymers produced from sucrose were most strongly produced by L. gelidum, followed by L. mesenteroides ssp. cremoris and L. mesenteroides ssp. mesenteroides. The mean wet weights of the artificial biofilm of S. mutans were also significantly reduced as a result of the addition of the water-soluble polymers obtained from Leuconostoc cultures. According to the results of thin-layer chromatographic analysis, the hydrolysates of the water-soluble polymers produced by Leuconostoc were identical to those of dextran T-2000, forming predominately ${\alpha}-(1-6)$ glucose linkages. These results indicate that dextran-producing Leuconostoc strains are able to inhibit the formation of S. mutans biofilm in vitro.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2003

The diversity and change of microbial communities during kimchi fermentation at $4^{\circ}C$ were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Kimchi samples were taken every 5 days over the fermentation periods (for 60 days) to extract total DNA for DGGE analysis. Touchdown polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify the V3 region of 16S rRNA gene. Sequencing results of partial 16S rDNA amplicons from DGGE profiles revealed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially Weissella koreensis, Lactobacillus sakei and Leuconostoc gelidum were dominants in kimchi fermentation at $4^{\circ}C$. And we knew that W. koreensis steadily existed throughout the whole fermentation period, also Lb. sakei and Leuc. gelidum appeared from 10th day and 30th day of fermentation time, respectively and then these species were to be dominant microorganisms.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.441-446
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• 2019

The assortment of endophytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in kimchi derives from its raw vegetables, which include Chinese cabbage, radish, welsh onion, onion, garlic, red pepper, and ginger. These vegetables were examined during mulkimchi fermentation using gene-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction and 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis. Sixteen species from five LAB genera (Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Pediococcus, and Weissella) appeared in the raw kimchi materials. Interestingly, nine LAB species were identified in mulkimchi on fermentation day 0 as follows: Leuconostoc carnosum, Leuconostoc citreum, Leuconostoc gelidum, Leuconostoc inhae, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus sakei, Lactococcus lactis, and Weissella confusa. Seven additional LAB species were present in mulkimchi at fermentation day 9 as follows: Leuconostoc gasicomitatum, Leuconostoc kimchii, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus pentosus, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and Weissella koreensis. These species corresponded completely with the LAB in kimchi vegetables. Wei. confusa was the predominant LAB during early fermentation (pH 6.20 to 4.98 and acidity 0.20 to 0.64%), while Lac. sakei, Lac. plantarum, and Wei. koreensis became dominant later in fermentation (pH 4.98 to 3.88 and acidity 0.64 to 1.26%). These results collectively demonstrate that the LAB involved in mulkimchi fermentation originates from the raw vegetables examined.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1580-1590
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• 2019

Capsaicinoids in red pepper powder are known to show anti-bacterial effects; however, their effects during kimchi fermentation are not known. This study aimed to investigate the effects of various concentrations of capsaicinoids on kimchi fermentation. Five sets of kimchi samples were prepared using 0 mg/kg (control), $98.34{\pm}5.34mg/kg$ (mild), $243.47{\pm}3.71mg/kg$ (medium), $428.63{\pm}30.78mg/kg$ (hot), and $1,320.49{\pm}28.27mg/kg$ (extreme) capsaicinoid. The characteristics of each kimchi sample, including pH, acidity, organic acid, sugars, sugar alcohol, capsaicinoid content, and microbial community were periodically investigated during fermentation. Kimchi with red pepper powder shows significantly higher acidity than control kimchi, whereas pH values were the same. Organic acid in kimchi with red pepper powder was higher than in control kimchi, probably caused by higher lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in kimchi samples with red pepper powder. Our results show that addition of red pepper powder decreased Leuconostoc spp. counts in the bacterial community. In particular, Lactobacillus sakei and Leuconostoc gelidum counts increased and decreased, respectively, with increasing capsaicinoid content of red pepper powder added to kimchi. Overall, the results of this study indicate that physicochemical properties and LAB such as L. sakei and L. gelidum are influenced by capsaicinoid content. However, further studies are necessary to investigate the effects of the percentage of red pepper powder in kimchi on fermentation to provide practical guidelines for producing standardized kimchi.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1066-1075
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• 2023

Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented vegetable that is stored and fermented at low temperatures. However, kimchi lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are typically isolated under mesophilic conditions, which may be inappropriate for isolating the diverse LAB. Therefore, this study investigated the suitable conditions for isolating various LAB from kimchi. Here, LAB were isolated from four kimchi samples using MRS, PES, and LBS media and varying isolation temperatures (30, 20, 10, and 5℃). Then, MRS was selected as the suitable medium for LAB isolation. A comparison of culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches indicated that 5℃ was not a suitable isolation temperature. Thus, the number and diversity of LAB were determined at 30, 20, and 10℃ using 12 additional kimchi samples to elucidate the effect of isolation temperature. With the exception of two samples, most samples did not substantially differ in LAB number. However, Leuconostoc gelidum, Leuconostoc gasicomitatum, Leuconostoc inhae, Dellaglioa algida, Companilactobacillus kimchiensis, Leuconostoc miyukkimchii, Leuconostoc holzapfelii, and Leuconostoc carnosum were isolated only at 10 and 20℃. The growth curves of these isolates, except Leu. holzapfelii and Leu. carnosum, showed poor growth at 30℃. This confirmed their psychrotrophic characteristics. In Weissella koreensis, which was isolated at all isolation temperatures, there was a difference in the fatty acid composition of membranes between strains that could grow well at 30℃ and those that could not. These findings can contribute to the isolation of more diverse psychrotrophic strains that were not well isolated under mesophilic temperatures.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2021

This study evaluated the changes in the pH, acidity, lactobacillus and total bacterial counts, and sensory evaluation of Dolsan leaf mustard Kimchi (DLMK) after incubation for 50 days at 4℃ in the presence of one of three lactic acid bacteria (LAB); Weissella kimchii (W.k.), Leuconostoc gelidum (L.g.), and Leuconostoc mesenteroides (L.m.). The pH ranged from 5.12 to 5.62 and the acidity varied from 0.62% to 3.77% upon the addition of a 2% salt solution to the DLMK prepared using the three LAB. Overall, the LAB counts decreased rapidly from day 10 to day 20 of fermentation, whereas the total bacterial count decreased during the 50 days of fermentation. The pH and acidity in the DLMK ranged from 5.22 to 5.61 and from 0.91% to 4.41%, respectively, in the absence of the 2% salt solution. The LAB count decreased until 20 days and then increased thereafter, whereas the total bacterial count decreased until 20 days and then increased until 50 days. The condiments treated with or without the 2% salt solution showed a gradual decrease in appearance, flavor, salinity, hot taste, and overall acceptability as fermentation time increased. In addition, DPPH radical scavenging activity was high for 2% W. k. and 2% L. m., and ACE inhibitory activity was the highest, at 70.38% in the marinated condiments fermented at 10℃ for 8 days. Thus, this condiment production method may be useful for DLMK and other Kimchi types.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.160-163
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• 2006

Brown rice contains rice bran and germ with higher nutritional value and dietary fiber content compared with the polished rice. However, brown rice has a limitation of poor digestion. fermented brown rice could be better nutritional source and improve digestibility. Therefore, we tried to select good fermentative microorganisms which have nutritional values with high amylase and protease activities, and probiotic effects. Nineteen micro-organisms, including eight Bacillus strains isolated from Chongkukjang and 11 lactic acid bacteria, were screened for the fermentation ability and enzyme production. The liquid broths containing 2.5%(w/v) of raw brown rice powder as a sole nutritional source were used for culture media. Among the strains tested, all of the Bacillus strains and two lactic acid bacteria (Leuconostoc gelidum and Pediococcus pentosaceus) showed increase in cell population and enzyme activities. The viable cell counts of all the Bacillus strains and two lactic acid bacteria exceeded $10^7 CFU/mL$. The maximal enzyme activities produced by Bacillus sp. Bl, Bacillus sp. B2, Bacillus sp. B11, L. gelidum and P. pentosaceus were 17.85, 17.50, 17.10, 17.10 and 3.24 U/mL for amylase and 22.48, 22.04, 23.76, 12.13, and 3.4 U/mL for pretense, respectively. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrated that the above strains could be potential starters for the fermentation of raw brown rice.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 2005

This study was performed to know whether there is any change of physiological activity in DLMJ which is inoculated by lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Dolsan leaf mustard Kimchi (DLMK) at $20^{\circ}C$. In the optimum ripening period, the population of Leuconostoc and Lactobacilli in the DLMK were found to be high. The Leuconostoc, Lactobacilli and Lactococci strains were identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc gelidum, Weissella confusa, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus raffinolactis, Lactococcus lactis and Weissella confusa using the Biolog system. The most predominant strain which was isolated from DLMK was Weissella confusa. As the results of the phylogenetic analysis using 16s rDNA sequence, the Weissella confusa turned out to be Weissella kimchii, with 99.0% similarity. To investigated the change of physiological activity in DLMJ by lactic acid bacteria, 7 predominant strains inoculated to DLMJ (Dolsan Leaf Mustard Juice). The cytotoxicity was found to be under $19.55\%$ all cases. Also, the antioxidative activity of the DLMJ treated with lactic acid bacteria was very low, which might have been due to the reduced antioxidative phytochemicals during the preparation of the sterile sample. The ACE inhibiting activity of DLMJ by inoculation with Weissella kimchii was shown to be the highest ($94.0\%$). This could be that the degradation of sulfur containing materials in DLMJ by Weissella kimchii gave rise to ACE inhibiting activity.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.948-953
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• 2006

The D-form of lactic acid is frequently detected in fermented foods, and an excessive dietary intake of D-lactic acid may induce metabolic stress in both infants and patients. This work was carried out to determine the prevailing microorganisms relevant to the accumulation of D-lactic acid in kimchi. Leuconostoc (Leuc.) mesenteroides and Leuc. citreum primarily synthesized D-lactate with a small quantity of L-form. Leuc. gelidum and Leuc. inhae evidenced patterns similar to this. Lactobacillus (Lb.) plantarum and Lb. brevis were shown to convert glucose into a balanced mixture of D-/L-lactic acid, whereas Lb. casei principally synthesized L-lactic acid and a very small quantity of D-lactic acid. When kimchi was incubated at 8 or $22^{\circ}C$, D-lactic acid was over-produced than L-form. Leuconostoc was determined as the primary producer between the initial to mid-phase of fermentation and Lb. plantarum or Lb. brevis seemed to boost D-lactic acid content during later stage of acid accumulation.