title: Isolation and characterisation of lactic acid bacteria from jiang-gua (fermented cucumbers), a traditional fermented food in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Jiang-gua (fermented cucumbers) is a popular traditional fermented food in Taiwan. The microflora of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in jiang-gua have not been investigated in detail. In this study, LAB from jiang-gua were isolated, characterised and identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 103 LAB were isolated; 70 cultures were isolated from jiang-gua samples and 33 cultures were isolated from its raw substrate, cucumber. These isolates were mainly characterised phenotypically and then divided into seven groups (A-G) by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA. The isolates were identified as Enterococcus casseliflavus, Leuconostoc lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus pentosus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus paraplantarum, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Weissella cibaria and Weissella hellenica. The antibacterial activities of the isolates were determined and 11 Lc. lactis subsp. lactis strains showed inhibitory activity against the indicator strain Lactobacillus sakei JCM 1157(T) .
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Heterofermentative W. cibaria and Leu. lactis were the major LAB found in jiang-gua samples without soy sauce. In soy sauce-added samples, homofermentative L. pentosus and L. plantarum were the most abundant LAB. In addition, the results also suggested that HhaI and RsaI restriction enzymes could be applied to distinguish W. hellenica and Weissella paramesenteroides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Ming Chuan University, No. 5 De-Ming Road, Gui-Shan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. yisheng@mail.mcu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Yi-sheng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hui-chung
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Huei-yin
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Wan-chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-hsuan
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Ching-wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Po-ya
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Fujitoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yanagida
mesh_terms: D000898:Antibiosis; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000382:microbiology*; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D056546:Lactobacillales / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S