Leuconostoc mesenteroides is used as a starter to produce high-quality kimchi products. In this study, an efficient and economical cabbage juice medium (CJM) was developed by process optimization of cabbage extraction and pasteurization and by compositional supplementation of various lacking nutrients. The pasteurized cabbage juice was determined to be a good medium candidate to cultivate L. mesenteroides, showing maximal cell numbers (9.85 × 10⁸CFU/ml) after 24 h. Addition of sucrose and yeast extract with soy peptone resulted in increment of bacterial cell counts in CJM, showing the supplementing effect of the lacking nutrients. Furthermore, addition of shell powder gave a protective effect on bacterial cells by preventing pH decline and organic acid accumulation in CJM, resulting in a 2-fold increase of bacterial counts. The optimized composition of CJM was 70% cabbage juice diluted with water, 0.5% (w/v) sucrose, 1% (w/v) yeast extract, 1% (w/v) soy peptone, and 1.5% (w/v) ark shell powder. The CJM developed in this study was able to yield a comparable level of bacterial counts with MRS medium and reduced the cost by almost 10-fold.
Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria; Leuconostoc mesenteroides; cabbage juice medium; fermentation; medium optimization; vegetable medium.