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Heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria dominate in Korean commercial kimchi

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Abstract

Lactic acid bacterial communities in kimchi prepared by representative Korean kimchi companies were investigated using a pyrosequencing method. The pH values of 9 kimchi varieties (K1-K9) ranged from 4.3 to 4.7, and total lactic acid bacterial (LAB) counts ranged from 1.3x107 to 1.6x109 CFU/g. Weissella, Lactobacillus, and Leuconostoc were the dominant genera accounting for 52, 28, and 20%, respectively, of identified genera. At the species level, Weissella koreensis (35%) dominated, followed by Lactobacillus graminis (13%), and Weissella cibaria (11%). Dominant LAB were all heterofermentative LAB. K1 had the most diverse operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and clustering analysis showed that distributions of microorganisms in K2, K6, K5, and K4 were similar each other. LAB communities in kimchi are diverse and heterofermentative LAB dominate in Korean commercial kimchi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Korea

    Hee-Young Kim, Yeon-Ju Bong, Ji-Kang Jeong & Kun-Young Park

  2. Kimchi Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan, 46241, Korea

    Ji-Kang Jeong & Kun-Young Park

  3. Bureau of Documentary Production, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Seoul, 07235, Korea

    Sungbum Lee

  4. ChunLab Inc., Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Byung-Yong Kim

Authors
  1. Hee-Young Kim
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  2. Yeon-Ju Bong
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  3. Ji-Kang Jeong
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  5. Byung-Yong Kim
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Correspondence to Kun-Young Park.

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Kim, HY., Bong, YJ., Jeong, JK. et al. Heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria dominate in Korean commercial kimchi. Food Sci Biotechnol 25, 541–545 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-016-0075-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-016-0075-x

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