FERMENTATION OF CUCUMBERS WITHOUT SODIUM-CHLORIDE

Cucumbers were successfully fermented and stored in the absence of sod ium chloride (salt) under laboratory conditions? provided the fruit we re blanched (3 min, 77 degrees C) before brining in a calcium acetate buffer and the brine inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum. Bloater formation was prevented by blanching even when brines were nor purged of CO2. Firmness of cucumbers was similar in salt-free brines or those containing salt after 1 mo, but firmness of salt-free cucumbers was l ower after storage for 12 mos. Under pilot-scale, commercial condition s, however, the cucumbers were severely bloated, and the firmness was unacceptable after storage for 7 mo, due apparently to microbial recon tamination after blanching.