In order to devise a useful method to detect the putrefactive lactic acid bacteria (LAB hereafter) Leuconostoc sp., ten amino acids of high solubility were tested for their effects to inhibit the growth of Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Against L. mesenteroldes subsp. mesenteroides IFO3426 (hereafter referred to as MES) the most effective amino acid was histidine, followed by glycine, serine and valine in that order. Histidine, glycine and serine were similarly most effective against L. mesenteroides subsp. dexranicum IFO 3349 (hereafter referred to as DEX). Histidine was regarded as one of the most effective amino acids to inhibit the growth of both strains. It inhibited MES at a concentration of 7% (w/v) and DEX at 5% (w/v). It was inhibitory between 15 and 30°C and between pH 7-9, and most inhibitory at pH 9. Of the 32 strains of Leuconostoc species other than Leuconostoc oenos examined in this study, 31 strains were inhibited with histidine with the exception being Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. dextranicum AHU 1680. Histidines did not inhibit the growth of putrefactive LAB other than L. mesenteroides and Leuconostoc lactis.