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Kimchi is a group of traditional fermented vegetable foods in Korea and known to be the product of a natural mixed-fermentation process carried out principally by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). According to microbial results based on conventional identification, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus plantarum were considered to be responsible for the good taste and over-ripening of kimchi, respectively. However, with the application of phylogenetic identification, based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene similarities, a variety of Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus species not detected in the previous studies have been isolated, together with a species in the genus Weissella. Additionally, Lactobacillus sakei has been accepted as the most populous LAB in over-ripened kimchi. In this study, Leuconostoc and Weissella species inhibiting the growth of Lb. sakei were isolated from kimchi for future applications to do with kimchi fermentation. From 25 kimchi samples, 378 strains in the genera Leuconostoc and Weissella were isolated and 68 strains identified as Lc. mesenteroides, Lc. citreum, Lc. lactis, W. cibaria, W. confusa, and W. paramesenteroides exhibited growth inhibition against Lb. sakei. Most of the strains also had antagonistic activities against Lb. brevis, Lb. curvatus, Lb. paraplantarum, Lb. pentosus, and Lb. plantarum. Their antagonistic activities against Lb. sakei were more remarkable at lower temperatures of incubation.
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