In this study, seven strains isolated from mustard leaf kimchi were screened for their tolerance to simulated gastric and bile juices, the adhesive properties to Caco-2 cells, and the inhibition ability of Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 29631 adhesion. Lactobacillus acidophilus GK20, Lactobacillus paracasei GK74, and Lactobacillus plantarum GK81, which were resistant to bile as well as gastric juices, possessed high bile-salt hydrolase (BSH) activity towards both sodium glycocholate and sodium taurocholate. The strongest in vitro adherence of 53.96 +/- 4.49% was exhibited by L. plantarum GK81 followed by L. acidophilus GK20 with adhesion levels of 40.72 +/- 9.46%. The adhesion of these strains was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced after exposure to pepsin and heating for 30 min at 80 degrees C. Addition of Ca2+ led to a significant (p < 0.05) increase of the adhesion of L. acidophilus GK20, but the adhesion ability of L. plantarum GK81 was not different from the control by the addition of calcium. In the competition and exclusion experiment, the adhesion inhibition of S. Typhimurium by L. plantarum GK81 strain was much higher than the other strains. Moreover, the exclusion inhibition of S. Typhimurium by L. acidophilus GK20 was considerably high, although the inhibition activity of this strain was lower than L. plantarum GK81.