Isolation and Identification of Lactic acid Producing Bacteria from Kimchi and Their Fermentation Properties of Soymilk

ABSTRACT Lactic acid bacteria were selected on the basis of lactic acid producing ability from kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food. Among the initial screening of over 150 strains selected from the sample, 27 strains were selected as lactic acid producing bacteria, and 4 strains were finally selected based on their ability to produce relatively high levels of lactic acid. The four strains were identified as Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum Gk04, Pediococcus pentosaceus Gk07, L. brevis Gk35 and L. curvatus Gk36 by the conventional morphological, cultural, physiological and biochemical characteristics, as well as by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Among the identified lactic acid bacteria, L. curvatus Gk36 was used for soymilk fermentation. The viable cell counts and acidity values measured for the L. curvatus Gk36 were comparable to the commmercial L. acidopillus. Thus, the L. curvatus Gk36 is a potential probiotic strain to prepar