Gul jeotgals (GJs) were prepared using solar salt aged for 3 years. One sample was fermented using starters, such as Bacillus subtilis JS2 and Tetragenococcus halophilus BS2-36 (each 106 CFU/g), and another sample was fermented without starters for 49 days at 10℃. Initial counts of bacilli and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in non-starter GJ were found to be 3.20 × 102 and 7.67 × 101 CFU/g on day 0, and increased to 1.37 × 103 and 1.64 × 106 CFU/g on day 49. Those of starter GJ were found to be 2.10 × 105 and 3.30 × 107 CFU/g on day 49, indicating the growth of starters. The pH values of GJ were 5.93 ± 0.01 (non-starter) and 5.92 ± 0.01 (starter) on day 0 and decreased to 5.78 ± 0.01 (non-starter) and 5.75 ± 0.01 (starter) on day 49. Amino-type nitrogen (ANN) production increased continuously during fermentation, and 407.19 ± 15.85 (non-starter) and 398.04 ± 13.73 (starter) mg% on day 49. Clone libraries of 16S rRNA genes were constructed from total DNA extracted from non-starter GJ on days 7, 21, and 42. Nucleotide sequences of Escherichia coli transformants harboring recombinant pGEM-T easy plasmid containing 16S rRNA gene inserts from different bacterial species were analyzed using BLAST. Uncultured bacterium was the most dominant group and Gram - bacteria such as Acidovorax sp., Afipia sp., and Variovorax sp. were the second dominant group. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (day 7), Bacillus velezensis (day 21 and 42), and Bacillus subtilis (day 42) were observed, but no lactic acid bacteria were detected. Acidovorax and Variovorax species might play some role in GJ fermentation. Further studies on these bacteria are necessary.
