SMEs' Kimchi Becomes Even More Delicious

World Kimchi Research Institute Completes Free Distribution of Kimchi Starter Cultures to 23 Small and Medium Kimchi Manufacturers

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The taste and quality of kimchi produced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea are expected to improve further. The World Kimchi Research Institute has developed a kimchi starter culture, a lactic acid bacteria that can enhance the taste and quality of kimchi, and announced on the 2nd that it has distributed it free of charge to 23 kimchi manufacturers nationwide through the kimchi starter culture distribution project supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Since the quality of raw materials varies by season, even kimchi made with the same recipe can have differences in taste due to the different types of lactic acid bacteria driving fermentation. While some large corporations have developed and use their own starter cultures, most SMEs cannot secure their own starter cultures due to the cost of purchasing strains or lack of specialized personnel.

Since 2013, the institute has collected lactic acid bacteria from various regional and type-specific kimchi nationwide, securing about 35,000 strains of kimchi lactic acid bacteria. It has also developed 27 types of kimchi starter cultures. Among these, the starter culture distributed this time was developed by the research team led by Dr. Haewoong Park of the institute and is called Leuconostoc mesenteroides WiKim0121. This starter culture increases the mannitol content, which enhances the refreshing taste of kimchi, by 10 to 50%, and extends the quality shelf life of kimchi by 15 to 30 days.

Choi Hakjong, Acting Director of the World Kimchi Research Institute, said, "By supplying kimchi starter cultures free of charge this time, we expect to reduce the cost burden on small and medium kimchi companies while improving the taste and quality of kimchi." He added, "We will do our best to develop various technologies to further solidify our status as the kimchi homeland and to revitalize the domestic kimchi industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.