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MECHANISM FOR BLOATER FORMATION IN BRINED CUCUMBERS
Author(s) -
FLEMING H. P.,
PHARR D. M.
Publication year - 1980
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.1365-2621.1980.tb07570.x
Subject(s) - brine , flesh , chemistry , food science , salting , horticulture , carbon dioxide , botany , biology , organic chemistry
The susceptibility of pickling cucumbers to bloater damage during storage in CO 2 ‐charged brine depended upon the internal gas composition of the cucumbers before brining. Gas extracted from fresh cucumbers consisted of about 75% N 2 , 20% O 2 , and 6.0% CO 2 . Replacement of that gas with CO 2 or O 2 , reduced the susceptibility of the fruit to bloater damage upon subsequent storage in carbonated brine. Bloater damage was related directly to % N 2 and inversely to % CO 2 in the internal gas of the cucumbers when they were brined. These and other findings are the basis of the following mechanism we propose to explain bloater formation of cucumbers in brine containing CO 2 . When cucumbers are brined, liquid clogs the intercellular gas spaces of the tissues that normally permit rapid diffusion of gases in fresh cucumbers. The liquid‐clogged layer encloses the internal gases within the fruit and functions as a differentially permeable barrier to N 2 and CO 2 . Since N 2 is the predominant gas within the fresh fruit, and since CO 2 concentration in the brine is high, a diffusion gradient for CO 2 exists toward the fruit interior. CO 2 , which is much more water soluble than N 2 , diffuses from the brine into the fruit faster than N 2 can diffuse from the fruit. Ultimately, the transfer of CO 2 to the fruit interior results in sufficient internal gas pressure due to CO 2 plus N 2 to rupture the flesh, causing a gas pocket (bloater formation).