Full Length Research Paper

Fermentation characteristics of Korean pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) puree by the Leuconostoc mesenteroides 51-3 strain isolated from Kimchi

Dong Chung Kim¹, Hee Jeong Chae^2,3 and Man-Jin In¹*

¹Department of Human Nutrition and Food Science and International Institute of Bio and Health Science, Chungwoon University, Hongseong 350-701, Korea.

²Natural Choice Co., Ltd., Asan 336-795, Korea.

³Department of Food and Biotechnology, Hoseo University, Asan 336-795, Korea.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: manjin@chungwoon.ac.kr  

or manjinin@yahoo.com.  Tel: +82-41-630-3278; Fax: +82-41-632-3278

Abbreviations: CA, Controlled-atmosphere; LAB, lactic acid bacteria; HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography; CFUs, colony-forming units; MRS, Man, Rogosa and Sharpe.

Accepted 8 July, 2010

   Abstract

A lactic acid bacterial strain showing fast growth and high acid production when cultured in Korean pear puree was isolated from Kimchi. This strain was analyzed by using the API 50 CHL kit and 16S rRNA sequencing and was thus identified as Leuconostoc mesenteroides 51-3. Korean pear puree was fermented with the L. mesenteroides 51-3 strain at 30°C for 12 h. The changes in pH, titratable acidity and viable cell count during fermentation were investigated. The pH and titratable acidity of the pear puree were 4.06 and 0.66%, respectively, after 12 h of fermentation. The viable cell count of L. mesenteroides 51-3 rapidly increased to 3.7 × 109 CFU/g after 12 h of cultivation. The content of lactic acid and acetic acid was determined to be 0.138 and 0.162%, respectively, after 12 h of fermentation. When the fermented pear puree was stored at 4°C, the pH, titratable acidity and viable cell count remained fairly constant for 14 days.

Key words: Fermentation, Korean pear puree, Leuconostoc mesenteroides.