Lactic acid bacteria belonging to the human normal flora of the mouth and intestine were used for fermented food as starter cultures.
In salted vegetables fermented by lactic acid bacteria, the fermentation of lactic acid bacteria was markedly affected by salt concentration.
A sample of 23 salted vegetables were purchased from a retail shop in Tokyo, and 2 homemade samples were also used.
A total of 164 strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from 19 samples.
For the fermentation test, API 50 CH galley and CHL medium were used according to the manufacture's instructions, and identification of species of lactic acid bacteria was performed using API 50 kit and Bergey's manual.
Lactic acid bacteria levels ranged between 10⁴ cfu/g and 10⁸ cfu/g widely.
The isolated lactic acid bacteria were Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc and Pediococcus.
The predominant species were Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactococcus lactis.