Proteases and antioxidant activities of doenjang, prepared with different types of salts, during fermentation

Abstract

In this study, doenjang samples were prepared with different types of salts (12%, w/w): purified salt (PS), 3-year aged solar salt (SS3), 1-year aged solar salt (SS1), and bamboo salt melted 3 times (BS). Whole-soybean mejus were fermented with starters consisting of 2 Bacillus strains, a yeast, and a fungus (starter doenjang), and control mejus were fermented with organisms present naturally in rice straw (non-starter doenjang). The whole-soybean mejus were dried, and then mixed with cooked soybeans and the respective salts. The doenjang samples were fermented for 13 weeks at 25°C. The protease (acid, neutral, and alkaline) activities, fibrinolytic activities, and antioxidant capacities of the samples were examined every week. BS doenjang showed the highest acid protease (6.46 ± 0.20 unit/g) and fibrinolytic activities (0.61 unit/ml). Among the starter doenjang samples, those made with SS and BS showed the highest total phenolic contents after 91 days of fermentation. For antioxidant activities, SS3 doenjang showed higher activities than the other doenjang samples, as evaluated by ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP assays. These results suggest that solar salt, especially aged for 3 years, is better than purified salt in terms of producing better functionalities of doenjang. ? 2016, The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology.