Abstract
The effect of fermenting brown rice with lactic acid bacteria was examined. When grains of brown rice (cv. Koshihikari) were soaked in water inoculated with Lactobacillus casei subsp. casei 327 for 17h at 37°C, lactic acid bacteria were found to grow in the water and on the rice. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from the fermented brown rice were identified as L. casei subsp. casei 327 by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the 16S rRNA gene. When brown rice was soaked in water that did not contain lactic acid bacteria, the number of bacteria on the rice was found to increase, and the major bacterial species was identified as Enterobacteriaceae. As the pH of the rice fermented with L. casei subsp. casei 327 was approximately 6, the taste of the cooked rice was unaltered. When other varieties of brown rice (cv. Milky queen and cv. Koshiibuki) were used for fermentation, the number of lactic acid bacteria found after soaking increased in the same way as for Koshihikari. Five species of lactic acid bacteria were subjected to the same test, and numbers of all species were found to increase in the fermented brown rice. The largest increase was seen for L. casei subsp. casei 327, and this species was also the most effective in preventing the growth of other types of bacteria.
