• 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.