• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.916-924
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• 2017

Eighty-five Enterococcus faecalis isolates collected from animals (40 isolates), meju (a Korean fermented soybean product; 27 isolates), humans (10 isolates), and various environmental samples (8 isolates) were subjected to multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to identify genetic differences between samples of different origins. MLST analysis resulted in 44 sequence types (STs), and the eBURST algorithm clustered the STs into 21 clonal complexes (CCs) and 17 singletons. The predominant STs, ST695 (21.1%, 18/85) and ST694 (9.4%, 8/85), were singletons, and only contained isolates originating from meju. None of the STs in the current study belonged to CC2 or CC9, which comprise clinical isolates with high levels of antibiotic resistance. The E. faecalis isolates showed the highest rates of resistance to tetracycline (32.9%), followed by erythromycin (9.4%) and vancomycin (2.4%). All isolates from meju were sensitive to these three antibiotics. Hence, MLST uncovered genetic diversity within E. faecalis, and clustering of the STs using eBURST revealed a correlation between the genotypes and origins of the isolates.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.188-196
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• 1995

To obtain useful mould strain in soybean fermentation industry, we collected conventional Meju all over the Korea and tested existance of aflatoxin in Meju collected. Also, we measured distribution of microorganism and enzyme activity of Meju and isolated Aspergillus oryzae O4-5 as a industrially useful mould. The results obtained were summarized as follows: 1. Aflatoxin was not detected by EZ-Screen Test Kit and HPLC analysis in various Meju sample collected all over the Korea from 1994.12 to 1995.2. 2. Colony forming units(CFU) of mould, yeasts, aerobe, and anaerobe were $1.3{\times}10^4-2.8{\times}10^6$, $1{\times}10^2-1.5{\times}0^6$, $2.0{\times}10^7-8.0{\times}10^8$ and $3.0{\times}10^6-7.3{\times}10^8$ per gram of Meju, respectively, indicating that CFU inter Meju samples were varied with big difference. 3. The activities of ${\alpha}$-amylase and gluco-amylase were 5-80 units and 2-34 units per g of Meju, respectively. It was shown that enzyme activity was varied depending on where the Meju was collected. 4. The activities of acidic, neutral and alkaline protease were 5-33 units, 5-302 units and 5-363 units per g of Meju, respectively. Acidic protease of Improved Meju made by D-Company was higher than that of conventional Meju as 66 units per g of Meju. 5. CNU O4-5 strain selected as a noble strain could produce amylase and protease in high level, and identified as a strain that belongs to Aspergillus oryzae. 6. The activities of acidic and neutral protease of Aspergillus oryzae CNU O4-5 strain isolated were about 10% higher than those of Aspergillus oryzae JM which has been used in soybean fermentation industry. Amylase activity of CNU O4-5 strain was similar to Aspergillus oryzae JM.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.226-232
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• 1985

Changes in lipid and fatty acid composition in Korean native Meju were investigated at one week interval over 6 weeks of fermentation. For the systematically, salicic acid column chromatography and gas liquid chromatography were used. Following results were obtained. 1. The lipid fraction obtained from the soared soybean and the cooked soybean were mainly composed of $72.47%{\sim}92.35%$ of neutral lipid, phospholipid and glycolipid were 4.64% and 4.88%, respectively. During fermentation period, lipid content decreased to 80.59%, but glycolipid and phospholipid contents increased. 2. The triglyceride contents of nonpolar lipids prepared from the cooked soybean and the soaked sobean was 89.66% and 87.83% respectively. Free fatty acid, diglyceride and sterol contents increased during fermentation, whereas triglyceride content decreased. 3. Lipids extracted from the soaked soybean and the cooked soybean were composed of 54.58% linoleic acid, $22{\sim}20%$ oleic acid, $10{\sim}12%$ palmitic acid and $3{\sim}5%$ stearic acid. 4. During the Korean native Meju fermentation in palmitic acid decreased from the second week and stearic acid through $3rd{\sim}4th$ week. Oleic acid and linoleic acid content decreased gradually, but linolenic acid content increased. 5. During the fermentation, myristic acid content of glycolipid fraction increased. Lipase activity reached to the maximum at the 3rd week.

• Mycobiology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 2013

Diverse fungi are present in Korean traditional meju and they are known to play an important role in fermented soybean products. To determine the origin of the fungi in meju, we examined the mycoflora of soybeans from 10 traditional meju factories. The samples were untreated or treated with sodium hypochlorite, and placed on malt extract agar (MEA), dichloran 18% glycerol agar (DG18), and dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar (DRBC) medium. A total of 794 fungal strains were isolated and they were identified as 41 genera and 86 species. From sodium hypochlorite untreated soybeans, the genera, Cladosporium (55%), Eurotium (51%), Fusarium (33%), Penicillium (22%), and Aspergillus (exclusion of Eurotium) (20%), were mainly isolated, and Eurotium herbariorum (22%), Eurotium repens (18%), Cladosporium tenuissimum (18%), F. fujikuroi (18%), Aspergillus oryzae/flavus (7%), and Penicillium steckii (6%) were the predominant species. In case of sodium hypochloritetreated soybeans, Eurotium (31%) and Cladosporium (5%) were frequently isolated, but Aspergillus (excluding Eurotium), Penicillium and Fusarium which were frequently isolated from untreated soybeans, were rarely isolated. Eurotium herbariorum (21%), Eurotium repens (8%), and Cladosporium tenuissimum (3%) were the predominant species. Of the 41 genera and 86 species isolated from soybeans, 13 genera and 33 species were also found in meju. These results suggest that the fungi on soybeans may influence the mycoflora of meju.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.1461-1466
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• 2013

In this study, we ascertained the characteristics of crude protease extracted from fruits (fig, kiwifruit and pineapple) as well as traditional Korean fermentation starters (bio nuruk, traditional nuruk, meju and rice koji) to determine their suitability for industrial application. Crude protease extracted from traditional Korean fermentation starters was found to have a higher optimum temperature ($70^{\circ}C$) and salt concentration (1~3%) but a lower optimum pH (3~6) value compared to the corresponding values for the protease extracted from fruits. On comparison, the total activities of protease per gram unit follow the order: bio nuruk> rice koji> traditional nuruk> fig> pineapple> meju> kiwifruit. Based on our results, we conclude that protease extracted from traditional Korean fermentation starters has potential for application in food industry, for example, as a meat tenderizer for sausage manufacturing and as a protease for cheese production.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.505-512
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• 2012

This study evaluated the quality characteristics of rice-doenjang prepared with Aspergillus oryzae MD05 and Bacillus subtilis HJ18-4. The physicochemical characteristics of rice-doenjang prepared with three types of meju, such as grain type(Rice 1), disc shape(Rice 2), and brick shape(Rice 3), were compared. We determined amino and ammonia nitrogen contents, protease and amylase activities, reducing sugar content, and total aerobic counts and lactic acid bacteria counts. The amino nitrogen and reducing sugar contents in all meju types gradually increased during fermentation. The amino nitrogen contents reached 151.5~200.0 mg%. Rice 3 were had the highest levels among the 4 types of rice-doenjang. After 42 days of fermentation, amylase and protease activity of Rice 3 were 366.57 and 94.26 unit/g, respectively, which were the highest levels among the 4 types of rice-doenjang. The total aerobic bacteria counts were not changed during 42-day fermentation. This results suggest that high quality characteristics of brick-shaped meju(Rice 3) were better than those of the other meju preparations.

• Food Industry And Nutrition
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.30-33
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• 2015

• Food Industry And Nutrition
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.31-33
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• 2016

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.275-280
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• 2011

In order to evaluate the diversity and change of bacterial population during the manufacturing process of traditional soybean paste (doenjang), bacterial communities were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing. In rice straw, the most important inoculum source for fermentation, the bacterial sequences with a relative abundance greater than 1% were assigned to four phyla, Proteobacteria (71%), Actinobacteria (20.6%), Bacteroidetes (4.2%), and Firmicutes (1.3%). Unlike bacterial community composition of rice straw, a different pattern of bacterial population in meju was observed with predominantly high abundance (99.1%) of Firmicutes. Phylum composition in young doenjang was almost same as that of meju. Major genera in young doenjang were Bacillus (81.3%), Clostridium (6.9%) and Enterococcus (6.3%) and the predominant species among bacterial population was B. amyloliquefaciens (63.6%). Abundance of the phylum Firmicutes in mature doenjang was 99.98%, which was even higher value than those in meju and young doenjang. Predominant species in mature doenjang were B. amyloliquefaciens (67.3%), B. atrophaeus (12.7%), B. methylotrophicus (6.5%), B. mojavensis (3.2%), and B. subtilis. (2.5%), which were also identified as major species of the microbial flora in meju. These results suggested that rice straw was a primary source for supplement of Bacillus species in manufacturing the traditional doenjang and that some species of Bacillus strains were mainly involved in the fermentation process of traditional doenjang.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.1006-1015
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• 1997

Whole soybean meju was fermented with four Bacillus strains for 45 hr in its model system. The pH range of the product was $7.98{\sim}8.68$, the contents of amino nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen were $286{\sim}439\;mg%,\;0.11{\sim}0.23%$, respectively and that of reducing sugar ranged $0.65{\sim}2.24%$. During fermentation, the enzyme activities increased up to $30{\sim}40\;hr$ of fermentation and slightly decreased after 45 hr. Stachyose was special sugar components for B. licheniformis and raffinose was for B. natto. The components of the organic acid showed distinctive patterns among four products and the patterns of amino acids and fatty acids were almost similar to those of other reports. The main and common odor concentrates of meju were pyrazine components, 3-methyl-1-butanol, acetic acid and ethanol. Chunggukjang, mixed with B. natto and B. licheniformis showed more acceptabilities than other combinations. Soybean paste, mixed with B. megaterium and B. subtilis, soysauce, mixed with B. megaterium and A. oryzae showed excellent acceptability, respectively.