Soy pediococci, the group of halophilic lactic-acid bacteria occurring numerously in soysauce moromi-mash, comprise a large number of heterogeneous strain in regard to carbohydrate-fermenting ability. Examination of 100 representative strains of soy pediococci for their ability to form acid from 10 carbohydrates revealed the existence of 67 patterns of fermentation among them. Some strains showed different fermentation-patterns from those described for the species Pediococcus halophilus, while they were well consistent with the typical P. halophilus in taxonomic properties other than sugar fermentation. An effective scheme for the flora analysis of soy pediococci in moromi-mash was developed. It consists of the random isolation of each of 50 or 100 pediococcal colonies from a specimen and the subsequent systematic examination of the whole isolates for their fermentation patterns with 5 selected carbohydrates, L-arabinose, lactose, melibiose, D-sorbitol and D-mannitol. Several simplifying modifications of the procedure were employed to carry out the numerous test cultures. Some naturally brewed moromi were analyzed for their pediococcal flora and the complexity of the flora was demonstrated.