Influence of Capsaicinoids Content on the Microbial Community during Kimchi Fermentation

Capsaicinoids in red pepper powder are known to show anti-bacterial effects; however, their effects during kimchi fermentation are not known. This study aimed to investigate the effects of various concentrations of capsaicinoids on kimchi fermentation. Five sets of kimchi samples were prepared using 0 mg/kg (control), 98.34 ± 5.34 mg/kg (mild), 243.47 ± 3.71 mg/kg (medium), 428.63 ± 30.78 mg/kg (hot), and 1,320.49 ± 28.27 mg/kg (extreme) capsaicinoid. The characteristics of each kimchi sample, including pH, acidity, organic acid, sugars, sugar alcohol, capsaicinoid content, and microbial community were periodically investigated during fermentation. Kimchi with red pepper powder shows significantly higher acidity than control kimchi, whereas pH values were the same. Organic acid in kimchi with red pepper powder was higher than in control kimchi, probably caused by higher lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in kimchi samples with red pepper powder. Our results show that addition of red pepper powder decreased Leuconostoc spp. counts in the bacterial community. In particular, Lactobacillus sakei and Leuconostoc gelidum counts increased and decreased, respectively, with increasing capsaicinoid content of red pepper powder added to kimchi. Overall, the results of this study indicate that physicochemical properties and LAB such as L. sakei and L. gelidum are influenced by capsaicinoid content. However, further studies are necessary to investigate the effects of the percentage of red pepper powder in kimchi on fermentation to provide practical guidelines for producing standardized kimchi.