The Reporting Quality of Acupuncture-Related Infections in Korean Literature: A Systematic Review of Case Studies.

Objective. Acupuncture is generally accepted as a safe intervention when it is administered in appropriate clinical setting by well-educated and experienced practitioners. In this study, we reviewed observational studies on adverse events (AEs) or complications relevant to acupuncture practice in Korean literature for assessing their reporting quality and suggested recommendations for future ones on acupuncture-related infections.

Effects of red pepper powder on microbial communities and metabolites during kimchi fermentation.

To investigate the effects of red pepper powder on kimchi fermentation, Baechu (Chinese cabbage) and Mu (radish) kimchi, with and without red pepper powder, were prepared and their characteristics, including pH, colony-forming units (CFU), microbial communities, and metabolites, were periodically monitored for 40days. Measurements of pH and CFU showed that the lag phases of kimchi fermentation were clearly extended by the addition of red pepper powder. Microbial community analysis using a barcoded pyrosequencing analysis showed that the bacterial diversities in kimchi with red pepper powder decreased more slowly than kimchi without red pepper powder as kimchi fermentation progressed.

Bacterial community analysis during fermentation of ten representative kinds of kimchi with barcoded pyrosequencing.

Kimchi, a food made of fermented vegetables, is densely populated by indigenous microorganisms that originate from the raw ingredients under normal conditions. Most microbiological studies on kimchi have been on the most popular dish, baechu-kimchi (Chinese cabbage kimchi). Therefore, relatively little is known about the various other kinds of kimchi (depending on the region, season, main ingredient, starter culture inoculation and recipe).

Effects of Leuconostoc mesenteroides starter cultures on microbial communities and metabolites during kimchi fermentation.

Kimchi fermentation usually relies upon the growth of naturally-occurring various heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This sometimes makes it difficult to produce kimchi with uniform quality. The use of Leuconostoc mesenteroides as a starter has been considered to produce commercial fermented kimchi with uniform and good quality in Korea.