Heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria dominate in Korean commercial kimchi

• Published in: Food science and biotechnology Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 541 - 545
• Main Authors: Kim, Hee-Young, Bong, Yeon-Ju, Jeong, Ji-Kang, Lee, Sungbum, Kim, Byung-Yong, Park, Kun-Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 01.04.2016; 한국식품과학회
• Subjects: Bacteria; bacterial communities; business enterprises; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; cluster analysis; Food Science; kimchi; lactic acid bacteria; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillus graminis; Leuconostoc; Nutrition; Research Note; sequence analysis; Weissella; Weissella cibaria; 식품과학; pyrosequencing; kimchi; heterofermentative; lactic acid bacteria
• ISSN: 1226-7708; 2092-6456; 2092-6456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10068-016-0075-x

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 1.3x10 7 to 1.6x10 9 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.