Some γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) producing and nitrite reducing lactic acid bacteria were isolated from Sichuan paocai, a Chinese traditional fermented vegetable. Determination of GABA and sodium nitrite residue was carried out by thin layer chromatography combined with HPLC and colorimetric analysis, respectively. It was found that BC114 strain which was identified and designated as Lactobacillus plantarum BC114 possessed the highest GABA producing and nitrite degradation capacity in MRS broth with 5 g/L monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 100 mg/L sodium nitrite. Then, GABA production and nitrite degradation ability were enhanced by optimizing culture conditions, such as time, pH, temperature and MSG concentration. The greatest yield (3.45 g/L) of GABA was determined after 72 h fermentation in MRS with 20 g/L MSG at 30℃ and initial pH 5.5. Furthermore, nitrite degradation ability reached the maximum value of 90.17%. These results suggested that L. plantarum BC114 with GABA producing and nitrite reducing ability has the potential to be starter culture and promote the development of functional fermented foods. Keywords: γ-aminobutyric acid, Nitrite degradation, Lactobacillus plantarum, Chinese paocai et al., 2013) and Marcha of Sikkim (Lee et al., 2010) containedGABA. The material basis of beneficial properties is closely linked and dominated by the fermentation strains of the genera Lactobacillus from the old salt brine or the fresh vegetable materials (Anadon et al., 2006). Recently, some of Lactobacillus spp. such as Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus fermentum which isolated from traditional fermented food sources has shown the ability to produce GABA (Sasimar et al., 2016). Therefore, the traditional fermentation Sichuan paocai is believed to be a good candidate for the isolation of GABA producing LAB.In addition to conducting the desirable properties, the spontaneous fermentation of traditional paocai is easily influenced by bacterial contamination which may results in the accumulation of nitrite in products, produce inconsistent and unsafe product. (Zahra et al., 2016). The paocai with high nitrite consumption has been associated with the cancer risk. Extensive experimental and some epidemiological data have suggested that humans are susceptible to carcinogenesis by N-nitroso compounds resulted from endogenous nitrosation reaction of nitrite (Fatemeh et al., 2016). Moreover, Seel (Seel et al., 1994) have found that the high levels of compounds in kimchi after nitrosation may play a role in gastric carcinogenesis in Southwest Korea. To overcome the limitation by nitrite overproduction in paocai associated with spontaneous fermentation, inoculation with starter culture fermentation is currently being investigated. Oh (Oh et al., 2004) have reported that Leuconostoc mesenteroides isolated from Kimchi samples depleted more than 90.0% of 150 mg/L nitrite after 48 h at 30℃. Additionally, several species of LABs isolated from naturally fermented products have been used as starter cultures fo...