anaerobic conditions, and endogenous antimicrobial compounds in the ingredients. Themain microorganisms involved in kimchi fermentation are LABs, which are facultativeanaerobes, microaerobes, or anaerobes. Several factors, such as salt concentration, temperature, pH, microorganism population, and air exposure control the kimchi fermentationprocess.The microbiological sequence of lactic acid fermentation in kimchi is similar to that ofthe lactic acid fermentation of sauerkraut, but it is different owing to the other subingredients, as shown before. The brining process extracts the water from the raw materials byosmotic activity and suppresses the growth of undesirable bacteria that could spoil thekimchi ingredients. At the same time, the brining conditions offer a relatively favorableenvironment for LAB under increased salinity.The number of total viable bacteria, yeasts, and molds is found to be markedly decreased by 11 to 16-fold for bacteria and 29 to 87-fold for yeasts and molds in varieties ofbaechu cabbages imbued with 10 percent NaCl for 10 hours. In contrast, LAB levelsincreased to 3- to 4-fold, indicating that the brining process removes the aerobes, yeasts, andmolds but stimulates growth of LAB in cabbages (10). Kim et al. (9) also reported thatcounts of bacteria, molds, and yeasts decreased by 45%, 58%, and 40%, respectively, by theprocess of salting and washing, showing that fermentation is mainly carried out by cabbageLAB after the brining process. Other microorganisms of ingredients other than the cabbagesmay also be involved in the fermentation, but LAB from the brined cabbage seems to be themain microorganism (12).For the proper fermentation of kimchi, it is important to keep anaerobic conditionscorrect to minimize the growth of aerobic microorganisms and stimulate the growth of LABduring the fermentation. The Korean traditional earthenware crocks (Fig. 2)are excellentfermentation vessels that provide facultative anaerobic conditions during fermentation.Figure 3shows typical microbial changes in kimchi during the fermentation at 2 to 7jC. Thenumber of anaerobic bacteria, usually LABs, increases, whereas aerobes, such asAchromobacter, Flavobacterium, and Pseudomonasspecies (16) usually decrease owing to theabsence of air and salt content and acid formed during fermentation. Although the level ofyeast is low, film-forming yeast increases in the later fermentation stages. The yeasts isolatedfrom the kimchi were Saccharomyces, Tolulopsis, Debaryomyces, Pichia, Rhodotorula,Endomycopsis, Kluyveromyces, Cryptococcus, Trichospora,and others (17).Kimchi fermentation is initiated byLeu. mesenteroides(Leuconostocsp.), a heterofermentative LAB and a facultative anaerobe; it produces lactic acid, acetic acid, CO2, andethanol as major end products. As the pH drops to 4.6 to 4.9 because of organic acid accumulation,Leu. mesenteroidesis relatively inhibited. As shown in Fig. 4,Streptococcus(St.faecalis) behaves similarly as Leuconostocsp., but in lower numbers. The fermentationcontinues with more acid-tolerant LAB species such asPediococcus cerevisiae,Lactobacillusbrevis, Lac. fermentum, and Lac. plantarum(18). However, there is overlapping growth ofthe species. Also, the growth of each species depends on its initial numbers in the cabbageand other ingredients, the concentration of salt and sugar, the absence of oxygen, and thefermentation temperature, as already mentioned.Lac. plantarumis present in the greatestnumbers following the initial fermentation and produces the maximum acidity at the laterstages, especially at higher temperatures.Lac. plantarumis believed to be the main acidifying or deteriorating microorganism in kimchi fermentation (19).The presence of yeast in the later stage of kimchi fermentation can produce varioustissue-softening enzymes, including polygalacturonase, which destroy pectic substances andother tissue structures of cabbages and radishes that will downgrade the kimchi quality.Softening of baechu’s texture is a problem due to excessive acidification of kimchi during theoverripening stage of the fermentation and preservation processes (20).Kimchi 631Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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