The fermentation characteristics such as pH, acidity, lactic acid bacterial counts and panel taste of kimchi, and antimutagenic activity of kimchi were studied when the kimchi prepared with different ratio of seed (S) and pericarp (P) in red pepper powder and fermented at 15^oC. The pHs of P:S=9:1 kimchi and P:S=7:3 kimchi decreased gradually during the kimchi fermentation, however, pHs of P:S=5:5 kimchi and P:S=3:7 kimchi decreased very fast during the fermentation. The counts of Leuconostoc sp were high in P:S=9:1 kimchi and P:S=7:3 kimchi but the levels were low in P:S=5:5 kimchi and P:S=3:7 kimchi. Whereas Lactobacillus sp counts were low in P:S=9:1 kimchi and P:S=7:3 kimchi, but the counts were high in P:S=5:5 kimchi and P:S=3:7 kimchi during the fermentation. P:S=7:3 kimchi showed the highest prevalence in the panel taste of the kimchis and the P:S=3:7 kimchi resulted in the lowest prevalence. The antimutagenic activities of the kimchi juices were studied by Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and SOS chromotest using E. coli PQ37. As the ratio of the seed increased, the antimutagenicities increased. Among the kimchi samples, P:S=5:5 kimchi significantly reduced (p＜0.05) the mutagenicities induced by aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in Ames test and SOS response against N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in SOS chromotest. From the results of the experiments, the P:S=7:3 kimchi seems to be the best seed ratio of red pepper powder for the preparation of kimchi in terms of fermentation chracteristics and antimutagenicity of the kimchi.

Keywords: Kimchi, Red pepper powder, Seed, Pericarp, Antimutagenicity