This study was performed to determine the optimal conditions of yeast extract, corn steep liquor and glucose concentration for the growth and lactic acid production of Lactobacillus casei KH-1 and to assess the effect of these conditions using a response surface methodology. A Box-Behnken design was used as an experimental design for the allocation of treatment combination as 17 pH-controlled batch cultures. The growth and product parameters were estimated by Gombertz, Leudeking and Piret models from experimental data, and analyzed statistically with response surfaces. The effects of yeast extract, corn steep liquor and glucose were significant for the maximum specific growth rate, mu(max), and the maximum biomass concentration, X-max, The interaction of corn steep liquor and glucose indicated that the positive or negative effect of glucose on mu(max) in corn steep liquor below or above 2.1% could be explained by the glucose-dependent availability of a nutrient on mu(max). Although the experiment was achieved in pH-controlled batch culture for L. casei KH-1, the growth- and nongrowth-associated production rate parameters, a and b, were significant in the response surface model. The growth and lactic acid production of L. casei KH-1 were strongly affected by glucose and the importance of the media composition was demonstrated. The estimated optimal conditions of the growth and lactic acid production of L. casei KH-1 were 1.276% and 0.697% for yeast extract, 3.505% and 1.708% for corn steep liquor, and 2.390% and 2.215% for glucose, respectively.