The community of lactic acid bacteria during kimoto-style seed mash making process and its control

Kimoto-style seed mash making processes such as the kimoto and yamahai-moto processes are driven by various microorganisms, and it is very important to make lactic acid bacteria grow stably for the brewing of a sake product with consistent quality. A model of bacterial transition from spherical lactic acid bacteria to rod-shaped lactic acid bacteria during kimoto-making has been advocated, but the model cannot explain all cases of a transition of a bacterial community during kimoto-making at various breweries. Several studies have described unique bacterial transition patterns that differ from those considered in the proposed model, and it is possible that factors such as differences in the initial bacterial community among breweries may cause the diversity of bacterial transitions. In this minireview, I summarize the research concerning the community of lactic acid bacteria during the kimoto-style seed mash making process, and I discuss how stable lactic acid fermentation can be achieved.