Abstract
Goishi-cha is a local tea produced in Kochi prefecture in Japan. The drinking tea prepared from it contains abundant lactic acid. Two processes of natural fermentation by molds and lactic acid bacteria participate on the procedure of Goishi-cha production. Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp. and Scopulariopsis brevicaulis were identified from molded tea leaves. Lactic acid bacteria isolated from fermenting broth containing tea leaves tightly packed in a tub was only Lactobacillus plantarum. A. fumigatus, one of the molds appeared on molded tea leaves, possessed the activity to disintegrate a filter paper. Then it was considered that tea leaves are wounded by A. fumigatus, and nutrients leaked from their cells are utilized by lactic acid bacteria in the following fermentation.
