Development of an active starter culture is essential in the production of safe and highquality fermented foods. Freeze-drying is an effective microbial cell immobilization technology intended to produce active and stable starter cultures for long-term storage. To determine the influence of various drying medium formulations with mung bean powder and disaccharides on the viability of L. plantarum S20 during freeze-drying and subsequent storage at 6±2°C and 30±1°C, three treatments of drying medium consisting of mung bean powder without disaccharides (MBP), MBP with 5% (w/v) trehalose (MBP+T), and MBP with 5% (w/v) sucrose (MBP+T) were evaluated. Results showed that L. plantarum S20 viability after freeze-drying ranged from 9.56 to 10.03 log (CFU/g) with viability loss ranging from 0.20 to 0.51 log (CFU/g), with MBP being the least effective (p<0.05) in minimizing viability loss. Supplementing MBP with either 5% sucrose or 5% trehalose improved (p<0.05) survival of freeze-dried L. plantarum S20; and both disaccharides exhibit similar (p>0.05) cryoprotective effects on L. plantarum S20 during freeze-drying and subsequent storage. Storage at 6±2°C for 180 days resulted in significant decreases of 2.15, 2.17, and 3.27 log (CFU/g) in L. plantarum S20 population in MBP+T, MBP+S, and MBP, respectively. A more drastic decline [>6.0 Log (CFU/g)] in L. plantarum S20 population was observed in freeze-dried culture stored at 30±1°C for 60 days. Fermentation characteristics of freeze-dried L. plantarum S20 in mung bean slurry were also determined. Freeze-dried L. plantarum S20 in MBP with 5% (w/v) sucrose was able to acidify mung bean slurry from pH 6.8 to pH 3.8 after 8 hrs with maximum LAB population of 9.2 log (CFU/mL). Acidification of mung bean slurry by fresh culture (non-freeze-dried) on the other hand was relatively slower where pH dropped from 6.8 to pH 3.72 after 24 hrs. Current work suggested that lyophilized L. plantarum S20 could be used as a starter culture for mung bean-based fermentations but further research on this area is needed.