To compare functional Chinese cabbage(‘Amtak’ baechu; F1 hybrid cultivar between Brassica rapa and B. perkinensis, AB) with general Chinese cabbage (‘Chunkwang’ baechu; general spring cultivar, CB), two kinds of kimchi(ABK and CBK) prepared with AB and CB cultivar were fermented at 10°C for 10 days. Their fermentative characteristics and anti-proliferative activities against mouse carcinoma cell lines were investigated. General kimchi(CBK) showed mature pH on the 6th day of fermentation, whereas functional kimchi(ABK) reached pH on the 9th day. CBK also exhibited acidity of mature stage on the 6th day, but ABK reached mature acidity on the 9th day. Although ABK and CBK were salted in the same condition, ABK had lower salinity than CBK, throughout the fermentation time. The highest total bacterial and lactic bacterial counts of CBK showed on the 8th day of fermentation, but ABK showed the highest total bacterial and lactic bacterial counts on the 10th day. The texture of ABK was harder than CBK for fermentation time. This seems to be corrleated with the slower fermentation rate of ABK. ABK showed significantly higher anti-proliferative activity (54.6% cell viability of control) in B16BL6 at 1,000 μg/mL. ABK was also higher in anti-proliferative activity than CBK throughout the fermentation time. However, there was no significant difference in the anti-proliferative activity of ABK between the fermentation times. In conclusion, fermentation of ABK showed a better texture, due to the slow fermentation rate and more anti-proliferative activity against mouse carcinoma cell line than those of CBK.

This study is conducted to investigate to the consumption pattern of Kimchi and perception about the functional Kimchi of consumer. The survey was done between October 1 to October 15, 2011 among 294 male and female adults aged 19 and over in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas. The gender distribution of subjects was 33.3% males and 66.7% females. 64.3% of subjects prepared Kimchi by themselves, 23.5% of subjects received Kimchi from relatives and 12.2% of subjects purchased Kimchi from the market. In addition, the rate of preparing Kimchi at home is highest in those aged fifty or over. Only 41.8% of subjects knew how to make Kimchi. 72.1% of subjects responded that they ate Kimchi one or more a day. 46.6% of subjects have purchased commercial Chinese cabbage Kimchi. The amount of one-time purchase of commercial Kimchi were investigated; 45.2% of subjects have been buying 500-1 kg, 34.4% of the subjects bought less than 500 g, and 11.2% of subjects bought 1-3 kg. 28.2% of subjects buy Kimchi at the supermarket and warehouse market. With regard to the evaluation of Kimchi taste, most consumers were not satisfied with the sweetness of Kimchi. In this result, the perception about functional Kimchi was very low. Consumer's demands were as follows: nutrient enhancement, strengthening of biologically active substances, lactic acid bacteria enhancement in order. Small sales units were preferred by the consumers, and complementation of sweetness of kimchi was required. Various Kimchi including functional Kimchi must be developed to meet the needs of consumers.