Study on a Simple and Quickly Production Method for Making Lactic Acid Fermented Low-salt Pickles using Hiroshima-na greens

Abstract

We investigated a simple method for quickly preparing long-shelf-life, low-salt pickles by using Hiroshima-na greens fermented with lactic acid bacteria (Furuzuke: old pickles). Commercially available rice bran beds were evaluated at 10°C by using weights (conventional method), and two types of rice bran beds were selected. When these two types of beds were used, the short-term method of fermenting at 20°C without weights produced less organic acid and had a lower number of viable lactic acid bacteria than the conventional method of fermenting at 10°C. However, sensory evaluation of overall deliciousness showed no significant difference between the conventional and short-term methods.

When commercially available fermented milk was used as the source of lactic acid bacteria and consommé was added as a supplementary nutritional source, sufficient growth of lactic acid bacteria (>2×10⁸ CFU/mL) was observed, and prototype fermented pickles with sufficient sourness were produced. Heating the vegetables in a hot water bath before the pre-pickling process and adding a small amount of vinegar at the start of the main pickling process were incorporated into the above-mentioned method. The salt concentration in the prototype pickles was approximately 2.5% (L-lactic acid concentration was approximately 0.4%), making them low-salt pickles.