FST305 FOOD PROCESSING
CHAPTER 2: FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES
2.4 PICKLING
RABIATUL ADAWIAH MOHAMMAD NOR
SHAHRIMI MOHAMAD HASHIM
FATIN ALISYA MARZUKI
SITI HAFSAH MOHD SHAH
HISTORY
• Pickled vegetables were, probably, originally designed to
preserve food and especially as a means to preserve
surplus agricultural products for winter when supplies were
scarce.
• Certain believe, vegetable fermentation may have started
in China, which can be deduced from references to the
mixing of vegetables, which were given as rations to
coolies during the construction of the Great China Wall in
the third century BC.
• Various ancient civilizations, such as ancient Egyptians,
Chinese, and Indians used pickling for food
preservation.
INTRODUCTION
• Pickling is the process of preserving edible products in an acid solution, usually vinegar, or in salt
solution (brine). In the latter case, the acid that does the preservative action (lactic acid mainly) is
produced by fermentation.
• The process of pickling is also known as brining and the resulting foods as pickles. In the United States
and Canada, the word ‘pickles’, generally means cucumber pickles.
• Usually, pickles refer to vegetable products, but sometimes, fish, eggs, or meat is also subjected to
pickling. The process applied to meats is usually called curing.
• Most major vegetables can be preserved by pickling, either commercially or in households.
• Cucumbers, cabbage, and green olives account for the largest volume of vegetables and fruits
commercially pickled in western countries. Capers, garlic, onions, carrots, cauliflower, beans, and other
vegetables are also pickled in lesser quantities.
• In Asian countries, fermented vegetables are very popular too, scientific research being mainly
concentrated on kimchi, which is the general name given to a group of acid-fermented vegetable foods
that have a long tradition in Korea.
CATEGORIES OF PICKLING
• Pickling involves preserving foodstuffs under high acid concentration, enabling their
preservation for over two years without refrigeration.
• There are different types of pickles that fall into two categories on fermentation aspect
basis.
1. Fermented pickles
2. Non-fermented pickles
1. FERMENTED PICKLES
The general procedure for the preparation of fermented vegetables is shown in Figure 1.
⮚ The fermentation process for vegetables can result in foods that may be stored for extended periods,
that is, 1 year or more, without refrigeration.
⮚ Vegetables may be treated in various ways before fermentation, depending on the nature of the fresh
vegetable and the product desired.
⮚ Examples of such pre-brining treatments include washing, cutting, peeling, blanching, and exposure
to NaOH solution.
⮚ Vegetables may be brined at various salt concentrations by either the dry-salt method (i.e. Cabbages)
or the brine method (i.e. Cucumber, green olives, carrots, and caper berries).
⮚ When vegetables are brined at salt concentrations of up to about 8% (w/v) and allowed to undergo
natural fermentation, the brine solution supports fermentation by a sequence of various types of
microorganisms: several gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, mostly Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB),
and yeasts.
Fermented pickles:
• There are two types of fermented pickles (sour or sweet
pickles):
(i) Sour fermented pickles
▪ Made by submerging raw materials in a dilute
brine (2–5% salt).
▪ Naturally occurring bacteria grow over 1–2 weeks
to produce lactic acid, which then prevents the
growth of food poisoning bacteria and other
spoilage microorganisms.
▪ The amount of added salt controls the type and
rate of the fermentation.
Figure 1: General procedure for the
(ii) Sweet fermented pickles.
preparation of fermented vegetables.
Pasteurization depends on the final conditions
▪ They are preserved by a combination of lactic or prevailing in the fermented vegetable
acetic acid, sugar and spices.
⮚ After fermentation, vegetables are packed with fresh packing brine in proper containers in order
to be consumed or commercialized.
⮚ Depending on the final conditions of the fermented product, a pasteurization treatment can be
applied to further stabilize the packed product.
⮚ Factors that affect fermentation are:
❖ Acid content
❖ pH value
❖ Salt concentration
❖ Temperature
❖ Natural inhibitory compounds that are present in the vegetable
❖ Chemical additives
❖ Sugar content
❖ Redox potential
❖ Availability of nutrients in the brine
⮚ Four species of LAB have historically been associated with the natural fermentation of
vegetables:
1. Leuconostoc mesenteroides
2. Pediococcus pentosaceus
3. Lactobacillus brevis
4. Lactobacillus plantarum
⮚ Nevertheless, many other LAB (i.e. Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus pentosus, and Weissella
spp.) and yeast species also play important roles.
EXAMPLES OF FERMENTED FRUITS & VEGETABLES
A. Cucumber
• Cucumbers for pickling are harvested while still
immature.
• Sorting to remove blossoms and broken, defective,
and distorted cucumbers should be done before
brining to minimize spoilage during the
fermentation.
• Sorting is followed by size grading. After that,
cucumbers are covered with salt brine.
• Fermentations are typically carried out in brine
equilibrated at about 6% NaCl.
• Most commercial cucumber fermentations rely upon
growth of the LAB that are naturally present on the
surface of cucumbers.
• Cucumber fermentations typically undergo a
homolactic fermentation by lactobacillus
plantarum and related LAB.
• Carbon dioxide may be generated from the respiration of
cucumbers and by the decarboxylation of malate during the initiation
of fermentation.
• In an effort to prevent bloater formation, cucumber fermentations
are purged with air to remove excess carbon dioxide from the
tank.
• In addition to lactic acid, the LAB produce a variety of metabolites
(i.e. Bacteriocins) that can be inhibitory to other bacteria.
• At the end of the fermentation, there may be 1.5% lactic acid, a pH
of 3.1–3.5, and little or no residual sugar.
• Prior to sale, cucumbers are washed to remove excess salt and
then packed in a variety of containers (plastic pails, pouches, or jars)
with appropriate cover liquor.
• The cover liquor typically contains acetic acid and spices in addition
to residual lactic acid.
• Fermented pickles may be pasteurized to ensure long-term stability.
B. Sauerkraut
• Sauerkraut is the product resulting from the natural lactic acid
fermentation of salted, shredded cabbage. The German word
literally translated means acid (Sauer) cabbage (kraut).
• The heads of cabbage are trimmed to remove the outer green,
broken, or dirty leaves, and the core is bored or partly removed.
• Subsequently, the cabbage is shredded into 0.7–2 mm wide
strips that, in most cases, are salted with 0.7–2.5% salt. The
shredded cabbage is placed into fermentation containers.
• Filling and pressing the cabbage into the fermenters together
with added salt lead to an osmotic withdrawal of water out of
tissue cells and, as a consequence, brine is formed.
• Finally, the surface of the filled containers must be covered
carefully in order to exclude oxygen and microbial
contamination.
• Usually, a sheet of plastic large enough to cover more than the
area of the top of the fermenter is used. Depending on the
temperature, a ‘spontaneous’ fermentation will start within a few
hours to 1–2 days and will continue between 7 days and
several weeks.
• The microbial growth sequence of spontaneously fermenting cabbage is invariably initiated by
Leuconostoc mesenteroides, followed by heterofermentative LAB, and finally
homofermentative LAB.
• A completely fermented sauerkraut contains 1.8–2.3% acid (calculated as lactic acid) giving a pH
of 3.5 or less. Lactic and acetic acids are the predominating acids, but other organic acids such
as succinic, malic, and propionic acids may also be formed in a smaller quantities.
• Ethanol, mannitol, CO2, and other compounds are produced in variable amounts as a result of the
metabolism of heterofermentative LAB. Sauerkraut may be packaged in cans, glass jars, or plastic
bags.
• Refrigerated sauerkraut, packaged in glass or plastic, is an unpasteurized product to which
preservatives (i.e. Sodium benzoate or potassium metabisulfite) are added.
• Pasteurized sauerkraut, packaged in cans or glass jars, can be made by pasteurization at 74–
82oC for 3 min.
C. Kimchi
• The ingredients for kimchi preparation include four major groups:
main vegetable (mostly Chinese cabbage or white radish), spices,
seasonings, and additional materials.
• The spices may include garlic, hot chili, ginger, onion, and others,
whereas seasonings form a group of optional ingredients that include
salt, pickled seafood, sesame seed, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
• Optional ingredients include small amounts of other vegetables,
fruits, cereals, nuts, meats, seafood, and mushroom, which may
influence the rate of fermentation, flavor, and nutritional value of
kimchi, as well as the fermentation process.
• For cabbage kimchi (known as baechu kimchi or referred to simply
as ‘kimchi’), the trimmed Chinese cabbage is cut to 3–5 cm in
length, washed, mixed with salt (8–15%) for 2–7 h, rinsed with
freshwater, and then drained. Sliced radish, onion and bunching
onion, chopped garlic, ginger, hot chili, and salt-pickled seafood and
dry salt are combined together to make a premixture in an appropriate
ratio according to the formula. These minor ingredients are mixed well
with the treated cabbage.
• The final salt concentration of the mixed
vegetable fermentation is usually adjusted to ~2–
3%.
• The mixed vegetables are placed in a fermentation
vessel with a closed lid and left to ferment for 1–3
weeks at a low temperature (2–10oC) or for 2–3
days at room temperature (20–25oC).
• The microorganisms mainly responsible for the
fermentation process are LAB, although
fermentation by aerobic bacteria, yeasts, and
molds occurs simultaneously.
• The pH of optimally fermented kimchi is 4.2–4.5
corresponding to organic acid contents of 0.4–
0.8% (as lactic acid), respectively.
• Pasteurization is a successful method in
preventing over acidification and can be used to
extend the storage period of kimchi.
• However, possible flavor defects caused by heating
may occur.
2. NON-FERMENTED PICKLES
• After preliminary operations (sorting, grading, etc.), vegetables are directly packed or can be preserved
in concentrated brine with as high as 20% of salt before packing.
• At this high salt concentration, virtually no lactic acid fermentation takes place but the occurrence of
a film of yeasts is not impossible. In this case, a desalting operation must be carried out prior to
packing. Vegetables are packed using acidified brine as packing solution.
• The microbial inhibitor effect of acid pH is usually complemented, when necessary, by heat treatment
(pasteurization) or by refrigeration plus the addition of antimicrobials (sorbates, benzoates, or sulfites).
• Acetic acid is commonly used as an acidulant at a concentration of 0.5–2%.
• Non-fermented vegetables are prepared according to the procedure outlined in Figure 2.
NON-FERMENTED PICKLES
Produced by two methods:
i. “salt-stock pickle”
▪ Use a concentrated brine (up to 16%
salt) where preservation is due to
salt and not to fermentation.
i. “vinegared pickles”
▪ Where raw materials are packed in
vinegar (acetic acid), salt and
sometimes added sugar to help
develop different flavor and texture
in pickles.
Fig. 2 flowchart to produce non-fermented pickles:
EXAMPLES OF NON-FERMENTED FRUITS & VEGETABLES
1. Garlic
• After cracking the bulbs to separate the garlic cloves and
peeling the outer covering, the defective and smallest
cloves are discarded. The peeled cloves are washed,
blanched in hot water to eliminate the enzymatic activity
responsible for pungent flavor, and then packed.
• Blanching can be carried out in water at 90 c for 15 min,
but less heating time (4 min) is also effective.
• Brine acidified with a lactic acid–acetic acid mixture
(to give equilibrium values of 1.5% acidity, expressed as
lactic acid, and 3% salt) can be used as packing solution.
• The corresponding packed product can be successfully
stored at room temperature, at least for 4 months, without
the need for pasteurization or refrigeration.
2. Capers
• Capers are flower buds of the Mediterranean shrub
Capparis spinosa L. The young buds are harvested
when they are still tightly closed.
• The usual commercial procedure for the manufacture of
pickled capers includes a first step of pretreatment of
high brine (16% NaCl w/v, at the equilibrium,
increasing 20% after changing the first brine).
• At the end of the pretreatment stage, capers are
desalted and packed into a finished product containing
about 6% salt and 1% acid w/v, as acetic acid.
THE NATURE OF THE PRESERVATIVE ACTION
Common salt and organic acids are primary preservatives for most types of pickled vegetables.
1. Common salt
• Common salt (NaCl; solubility in water at 25oC, 35.7%) lowers the water activity (aw value) of a system
and thus renders conditions less favorable to microbial life.
• However, since the aw value of a saturated common salt solution is only in the region of 0.75 and some
microorganisms continue to grow below this limit, it is impossible to protect a foodstuff reliably from all
microbial deterioration by using common salt alone, apart from the virtually unacceptable restrictions
imposed on taste
• Common salt also reduces the solubility of oxygen in water, which is of relevance for aerobic
microorganisms.
2. Organic acids
• Organic acids are weak acids naturally found in vegetables, fruits, and fermented foods and have been
used for decades as food additives for preservation.
• Lactic and acetic acids are the most used in pickled vegetables.
• Acidic pH environments can alter intracellular metabolic activities in bacteria. The diffusion of a
protonated organic acid through cell membranes followed by intracellular dissociation of the acid can
result in the acidification of the cytoplasm and intracellular acid anion accumulation, with eventual
disruption of pH homeostasis and cellular metabolism.
A) lactic acid
▪ Lactic acid (pKa = 3.79) is a hygroscopic, syrupy liquid having a moderately strong acid
taste. In the pickled vegetable industry, lactic acid is widely used to adjust acidity in brines.
• Lactic acid is produced naturally in fermented foods by LAB. As an end product in natural
fermentations, lactic acid is probably one of the oldest known antimicrobial agents. The
inhibitory capacity of this acid lies in its reduction of pH to levels below which bacteria cannot
initiate growth.
• In fermented foods, lactic acid coupled with other antimicrobial factors excreted by lactic
acid-producing microorganisms inhibits competing microorganisms.
B) acetic acid
• Acetic acid (pKa = 4.75) is used in food preservation in two forms, namely, as 5–10% vinegar and
as 25–80% aqueous solutions of synthetic acetic acid.
• Vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid produced by a two-stage fermentation process. Vinegar
contains a large number of secondary constituents that contribute to its flavor. As well as the
sharpness conferred by acetic acid, individual vinegars each have their own particular flavor.
• Normally, a vinegar takes its name from the raw material used (malt vinegar, wine vinegar, etc.).
The preservation action of vinegar is due to its acetic acid content, but is not simply a pH effect.
• Activity is associated with the unionized, lipophilic molecule that can penetrate the cell
membrane, disrupting membrane transport processes and dissociating within the cell to increase
acidity and produce toxic levels of the anion.
• Besides its preservative action, acetic acid is very important as a flavoring and acidulant.
CONCLUSION
• The preservation of vegetables by pickling is one of the earliest and most widespread
technologies developed by humans. Both fermented and non-fermented pickled vegetables
are produced and consumed in every culture and society around the world, usually based on
traditional processing methods.
• This is because the products produced are safe, due to the presence of inhibitory compounds,
primarily NaCl and organic acids, and have appealing sensory characteristics. Aside from these
features, there are other reasons nowadays to recommend the consumption of this type of foods,
taking into account the growing interest by consumers in healthy foods.
• Thus, some pickled vegetables such as sauerkraut, kimchi, green olives, capers, and garlic
appear to be a rich source of compounds (i.e. Polyphenols, glucosinolates, and organosulfur
compounds) with beneficial properties.
• Another health-promoting property may result from the LAB involved in fermentation in case of
fermented vegetables, although the probiotic efficacy of these microorganisms still have to be
demonstrated in most cases.
END OF CHAPTER 2.4^^
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