• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.702-708
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics of commercial Mukeunji product along with its sensory properties. Six different types of commercial Mukeunji products were purchased through an on-line market, and each product had a different fermentation period. General commercial Baechu Kimchi was compared with commercial Mukeunji products in order to standardize quality properties of Mukeunji. As a result, commercial Mukeunji showed a lower pH value (pH 3.96, mean value) than commercial Baechu Kimchi (pH 5.92), whereas commercial Mukeunji samples showed higher acidity and salinity. Color values (L, a, and b) of commercial Mukeunji decreased as the storage period increased. Hardness and thickness of commercial Mukeunji showed a lower range compared to Baechu Kimchi. The reducing sugar content decreased as the storage period of commercial Mukeunji increased. Acetic, lactic, and succinic acids were detected in commercial Mukeunji samples, whereas citric acid and malic acid were additionally detected in Baechu Kimchi. Commercial Mukeunji samples showed lower contents of acetic and succinic acid and higher content of lactic acid than Baechu Kimchi. Commercial Mukeunji samples showed a significant difference in all descriptive sensory attributes except for bitterness. Overall intensity, sourness, moldy odor, redness, sour smell, saltiness, and carbonated taste increased as the storage period increased, whereas cabbage flavor, crispiness, sweetness, firmness, and savory taste decreased as the storage period increased.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.325-333
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• 2023

This study compared and analyzed the microbial composition and physicochemical characteristics of kimchi (gimjang kimchi) and mukeunji (aged kimchi). Commercial kimchi and mukeunji products were purchased through an online market. After an analysis of physicochemical characteristics, the pH of the mukeunji samples was found to be lower and the acidity higher than in the kimchi samples. There was no significant difference in salinity between kimchi and mukeunji, but the sugar content was higher in the kimchi samples. The phylogenetic diversity index, which incorporates phylogenetic difference between species, was significantly higher in mukeunji than in the kimchi. The most dominant order in both groups was Lactobacillales, but several lactic acid bacteria, such as the Pediococcus and Lactobacillus species, which may be more acid tolerant or more competitive, are relatively predominant in mukeunji. Beta set-significance analysis based on two different distance metric results revealed that microbial distributions of population were different at the statistical confidence level (p<0.001). We investigated the effect of respective species on total microbial community using the LEfSe (linear discriminant analysis effect size) mechanism. According to the results of LEfSe testing, a relatively higher abundance of Weissella kandleri in kimchi and a higher abundance of Pediococcus inopinatus in mukeunji have the greatest influence on the differences in microbial structure between the two groups.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.1467-1474
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• 2013

To develop a starter culture system for the fermentation of mukeunji, we introduced lactic acid bacteria and yeast isolated from mukeunji into kimchi fermentation as a single or a mixed culture. On evaluating mukeunji flavor, we found that the mixed starter kimchi prepared with two strains, ML17 and MY7, gave the best sensory score. These strains were identified as Lactobacillus (Lb.) curvatus ML17 and Saccharomyces (S.) servazzii MY7 by molecular identification method. The fermentative characteristics of starter kimchi were investigated by measuring changes in the physicochemical and microfloral characteristics during the fermentation. The decrease in pH and increase in acidity in the starter kimchi were faster compared to respective values of control kimchi. There was a gradual decrease in hardness of starter kimchi, which was still slow compared to hardness decrease in control kimchi. Microbial analysis of starter kimchi revealed that Lb. curvatus ML17 and S. servazzii MY7 were the dominant organisms during the entire fermentation period. The lactic acid and citric acid contents of starter kimchi were higher than those of the control kimchi after 90 days of fermentation. By sensory evaluation, the starter kimchi scored higher in appearance, mukeunji flavor, sourness, carbonated flavor, savory taste, texture, and overall acceptability, but lower in off-flavor than the control kimchi.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.1009-1016
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• 2014

This study investigated the probiotic and functional characteristics of Mukeunji starter, Lactobacillus curvatus ML17, isolated from Mukeunji. Lb. curvatus ML17 was confirmed as a safe microorganism due to its non-hemolytic activity and non-production of harmful ${\beta}$-glucuronidase and ${\beta}$-glucosidase. Tolerance to artificial gastric and bile juice of Lb. curvatus ML17 was investigated. After incubation in artificial gastric and bile juice, the number of surviving cells was $1.38{\times}10^8$ CFU/mL. According to the results of adhesion assay, this strain also exhibited good adhesion to Caco-2 cells. Lb. curvatus ML17 showed good antimicrobial activity against food borne pathogens, especially Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell-free extract of Lb. curvatus ML17 exhibited high levels of DPPH scavenging capacity and inhibitory effects on growth of AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells and HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. These results suggest that Lb. curvatus ML17 has potential for application in functional foods.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.211-215
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• 2015

From the previous study, Enterococcus faecium SH01 was isolated from mukeunji, an over-ripened kimchi, and it produced bacteriocin SH01. Bacteriocin SH01 showed an inhibitory effect against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111, a bacterial strain causing human listeriosis. Crude bacteriocin SH01 was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and its inhibitory activity at two concentrations (500 and 1,000 AU/g) against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111 was investigated in ground beef at increasing temperatures (5, 10, 15, and 20℃) for 8 d. The number of Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111 significantly decreased (p<0.05) as the concentration of bacteriocin increased from 500 to 1,000 AU/g. Intrinsic crude protease activities in ground beef were examined and increased as the temperature increased. Experiments varying both the concentrations of added bacteriocin SH01 and temperature demonstrated a maximum inhibition (2.33 log reduction of bacteria) in samples containing 1,000 AU/g of bacteriocin SH01 incubated at 20℃. When the crude bacteriocin SH01 solution (1,280 AU/mL) was incubated with crude protease solutions at different temperatures, its activity decreased by only half (640 AU/mL), as assessed in an agar well diffusion assay. The finding that the antilisterial activity of bacteriocin SH01 increased with temperature can be explained by the fact that higher temperatures increase bacterial membrane fluidity, thereby promoting the cellular penetration of bacteriocin SH01 into L. monocytogenes. Bacteriocin SH01 may be an excellent candidate as a biopreservative for controlling L. monocytogenes growth in ground beef.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.471-481
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• 2016

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the bacteriocin-producing heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and acid-resistant yeast isolated from Mukeunji, a Korean ripened kimchi on shelf-life extension and quality improvement of sourdough. According to gene sequence analysis the heterofermentative LAB that showed the antimicrobial activity against bread-spoilage Bacillus strains were identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides LAS112, Lactobacillus brevis LAS129, and L. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum LAB137. In addition, the yeasts that were able to grow at acidic pH were identified as Pichia membranifaciens YS05, Pichia fermentans YS19, and Pichia anomala YS26. During sourdough fermentation the levels of acetic acid and bacteriocin produced by L. brevis LAS129 strain were higher than those of L. mesenteroides LAS112 and L. mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum LAS 137 strains, whereas LAS112 strain produced the highest levels of lactic acid. The maximum bacteriocin activity (640 AU/g) against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 35421 was obtained in sourdough fermented by mixed culture of L. brevis LAS129 and P. membranifaciens YS05 or P. anomala YS26. After 24 h of fermentation at $30^{\circ}C$, the viable cell counts of LAS129 ($10^9CFU/g$) in sourdough were higher than those of the YS05 or YS26 ($10^7CFU/g$). Meanwhile, the viable cells of bread-spoilage strain in sourdough fermented with these strains were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the control group.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.335-342
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• 2015

We conducted a study on mukeun (long-term fermented) kimchi ripened over one year in an attempt to develop an alternative salt and improve the quality of low-salt kimchi. However, few studies have focused on mukeun kimchi that has been fermented for a short time in different salinity conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics that occur during the fermentation of mukeun kimchi samples produced with different conditions of salinity and fermentation temperature. Kimchi samples were produced at 3 different salinity levels: 1.6%, 2.4%, and 3.2%. Previous studies revealed that the optimum fermentation time at pH 4.1 was 128 hours at $18^{\circ}C$ and 417 hours at $12^{\circ}C$; furthermore, the samples were stored for 12 weeks under the condition of $-1^{\circ}C$ after fermentation. Total cell increased on week 0 of storage and decreased according to the storage period. Total cell was the highest at 3.2% salinity and had a high value at $18^{\circ}C$ temperature during the storage period. Based on the physiochemical results, mukeun kimchi at a salinity of 3.2% can be fermented for a short time, and low-salt kimchi at a salinity of 1.6% and fermented at $18^{\circ}C$, is similar to mukeun kimchi at 2.4% salinity.