Most fermentation of foods incorporates strategies to suppress
harmful microorganisms through the addition of preservatives
such as salt, sugar, and/or other spices. However, more recently,
adding competitive starter cultures, particularly autochthonous
microorganisms that can survive and also preserve the indigenous
character of fermented products, is now considered to be the most
appropriate tool (Zeng et al., 2013; Corral et al., 2014). In Chinese
low-salt fermented fish, the use of autochthonous mixed starters
effectively suppresses the degree of spoilage and produces a
remarkably sensory feature (Zeng et al., 2013). Also, adding an
autochthonous yeast can compensate for changes in the quality of
reduced fat and salt sausages, improving their aroma and taste
(Corral et al., 2014). However, no studies have employed any microbial
approaches to reduce the salt content of soy sauce.
To the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive description of
the effects of salt concentration in soy sauce fermentation is not
available. Accordingly, pinpointing a negative effect caused by salt
reduction is crucial for resolving the problem as well as for
exploiting appropriate tools for the development of low-salt soy
sauce. Herein, changes in the physiochemical and microbial properties
of fermented soy sauce according to reduced salt concentrations
were examined. In addition, the ability of indigenous yeast
starters to maintain the original characteristics produced by lowsalt
fermentation was also assessed.