Red pepper powder is a crucial factor that influences the ontogeny of Weissella cibaria during kimchi fermentation

Weissella cibaria has been found in Korean kimchi and other sources, including fermented foods, Greek salami, Spanish sausages, and animal and human excrement. W. cibaria was recently reported to show anticancer, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Nevertheless, fundamental ecological succession studies are required to scientifically confirm the probiotic action of W. cibaria under various conditions, such as fermentation. Therefore, in the present study, we mined the W. cibaria KACC11862 genome in search of species-specific genes to use as new PCR targets for the detection and quantification of W. cibaria in kimchi. The sensitivity and specificity of the identified primer set from the putative outer membrane protein gene for the detection of W. cibaria KACC11862 in kimchi were analysed. Primer set specificity was evaluated using genomic DNA from eight W. cibaria isolates, 10 different species of Weissella and 13 other reference lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains. Interestingly, by using the qPCR assay developed herein, we found that red pepper powder markedly affects the ontogeny of W. cibaria during kimchi fermentation.