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SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PICKLING CUCUMBERS TO BLOATER DAMAGE BY CARBONATION
Author(s) -
FLEMING H. P.,
THOMPSON R. L.,
MONROE R. J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1978.tb02449.x
Subject(s) - carbonation , pickling , chemistry , brine , food science , organic chemistry
The susceptibility of pickling cucumbers to bloater damage was studied by artificial carbonation of brined cucumbers with mixtures of CO 2 in N 2 . Bloater damage was induced within a few hours by carbonation of heated and unheated cucumbers, independent of microbial growth, suggesting that a physical‐chemical mechanism causes bloating. Evidence indicated, however, that biological factors may also influence bloating. Unheated, brined cucumbers bloated only slightly when carbonation was begun immediately after brining, or about a month or longer after brining. The cucumbers bloated extensively, however, when carbonation was begun between about 1 and 30 days after brining. Damage was more closely associated with % saturation than with concentration of dissolved CO 2 . Serious bloater damage was prevented when CO 2 in brines was maintained below 50% saturation. Bloater damage resulted within a few hours, however, if brine CO 2 greatly exceeded this level. Cucumbers varied in tolerance to CO 2 before development of serious damage. The method herein reported for controlling levels of CO 2 in the brine may be useful in further study of factors that influence the susceptibility of cucumbers to bloater damage.