Effects of different types of salts on the growth of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts during kimchi fermentation

Kimchi was prepared with different types of salts: purified salt (PS), solar salt aged for 1 year (SS1), aged for 3 years (SS3), and bamboo salt (BS). Kimchi inoculated with Leuconostoc mesenteroides P30 (starter kimchi), and control kimchi (non-starter kimchi) were prepared, and stored at - 1 °C for 20 weeks. Titratable acidity values increased slowly and reached 0.96-1.01% (pH 3.73-3.83) at 20 weeks. Proportions of coccus-type lactic acid bacteria (LAB) among total LAB were higher in SS kimchi than PS kimchi. Among non-starter kimchi, the proportions were 44.7, 41.6, 29.7, and 32.1% for SS3, SS1, BS, and PS kimchi, respectively, at 2 weeks, and 11.5, 12.8, 6.7, and 5.8%, respectively, at 20 weeks. SS kimchi had much less yeast counts than PS kimchi. Among starter kimchi, yeasts were detected from PS kimchi at 10 weeks but not detected until 18 weeks from SS1 and BS kimchi and 20 weeks from SS3 kimchi.