Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidative Activity of Fermented Rhodiola sachalinensis and Korean Red Ginseng Mixture by Lactobacillus acidophilus

Abstract The study was conducted to investigate the condition for mixed fermentation of Rhodilola sachalinensis with red ginseng using Lactobacillus acidophillus 128 and the changes of physicochemical properties and antioxidant activities before and after the lactic acid fermentation was examined. In the single fermentation of Rhodiola sachalinensis extract, the pH and titratable acidity rarely changed, and the number of lactic acid bacteria decreased greatly. On the other hand, in the lactic acid fermentation of Rhodiola sachalinensis-red ginseng mixed extract of 50% red ginseng content, the pH decreased, whereas the titratable acidity and the number of lactic acid bacteria increased. The solid content of optimal mixed extract for lactic acid fermentation was 0.5%. Sugar content decreased during fermentation, but total phenolic compounds tended to increase during fermentation. The salidroside and p-tyrosol content of the initial Rhodiola sachalinensis-red ginseng mixed extract was 419.5 ㎎% and 60.1 ㎎%, respectively; after fermentation, the salidroside content after lactic acid fermentation decreased greatly to 81.8 ㎎%, and the amount of p-tyrosol increased greatly to 324.9 ㎎%. The DPPH scavenging activity of Rhodiola sachalinensis-red ginseng mixed fermentate was 78.1% at 0.1% concentration, showing a tendency to increase as compared to 50.3% of Rhodiola sachalinensis-red ginseng mixed extract before the fermentation (p<0.05); it was a higher antioxidant activity as compared to the single fermentation of Rhodiola sachalinensis or red ginseng.Key words: Rhodiola sachalinensis A. Bor., red ginseng, fermentation, antioxidant activity, lactic acid bacteria