Abstract: In Zao pepper, a naturally fermented lactic pepper, lactic-acid bacteria(LAB) is a dominant microflora, and a few ofyeasts also play a important role. It is suitable for the production materials of Zao pepper to choose the mature red pepper inearlier stage with the thick and solid tissue or the hard and fragile texture. In the production of Zao pepper through the newprocessing technology of the direct bottle-filling fermentation, either the selective inhibitation through the acid regulation or theantisepsis, or the intensification of dominant microflora through the artificial inoculation after reducing microbe on the pepper issurface, may completely guarantee both the safe fermentation and the quality improvement of the product.

Key words: pepper, lactic fermentation, intensification of dominant microflora