The aim of the present study was to isolate novel lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from hairy vetch forage crop and characterize their probiotic and fermentative potential for preparing Korean cabbage kimchi. First, functional characterization of isolated strains such as antagonistic property, auto-aggregation, antibiotic susceptibility, and extracellular enzyme production was performed. The isolated Lactobacillus plantarum KCC-41 strain was able to inhibit pathogenic fungal spore formation. It showed susceptibility to common commercial antibiotics drugs. The selected LAB strain was then subjected to microencapsulation with alginate biopolymer. Its ability to survive in in vitro simulated gastro-intestinal fluid was evaluated. It was also used in the fermentation of cabbage kimchi samples. The encapsulated KCC-41 strain could effectively lead to kimchi fermentation in terms of reducing its pH and dominating bacterial count. It also significantly increased organic acid production than non-encapsulated LAB (KCC-41) for cabbage kimchi samples.
Keywords: Cabbage kimchi; Fermentation quality; Gastro-intestinal tolerance; Lactobacillus sp.; Microencapsulation.