Abstract
Effects of protein-sources on Kimchi fermentation and on the stability of ascorbic acid were investigated at $7{\pm}1^{\circ}C.$ Kimchi samples with various protein sources showed the higher pH and total acidity through the fermentation period than kimchi without the proteins. The results revealed that the proteins have acted as good buffer and lactobacilli-growth enhancer in the fermentation, and the milk proteins showed the most significant effect among the samples. The lactobacilli were at the highest growth at 15th day in all the samples. The amounts and changes in ascorbic acid content during the fermentation did not differ significantly between the control and protein added samples. The fresh, unfermented kimchi contained 14.5-15.7mg of ascorbic acid per 100g of sample and decreased continuously by the 12th day of fermentation. After then the vitamin increased in all the samples and then again decreased slowly after 18th day. The contents of ascorbic acid at the end of the 3 weeks-fermentation(16.3-17.3mg/100g) were still higher than the contents of fresh, unfermented kimchi.