Characterization of traditionally fermented Korean soybean paste, eoyukjang, and isolation of its microorganisms

In this study, traditionally fermented Korean soybean paste, eoyukjang, was characterized and its microorganisms were isolated. The contents of amino-type and ammonia-type nitrogens in the pastes we examined were 89.60 to 98.93 mg/% and 0.32 to 0.30 mM, respectively. Antioxidant activity increased during ripening, with antioxidant activities in 1- and 4-year-old pastes measured at 9.80 and 13.84 μmol of Trolox equivalents/g, respectively. Twenty-two and 19 microorganisms were isolated from soybean pastes under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. After identification, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus vallismortis were dominant. In the enzyme activities, protease and lipoxygenase activities were observed from 0.065 to 0.733 unit/mg protein and 0.016 to 0.19 unit/mg protein, respectively. Amylase activity was, however, broad between 43.1 to 571.8 unit/mg protein.