From Cucumbers To Pickles Research Paper

From Cucumbers to Pickles

For some, cucumbers are the vegetable of choice for consumption, but for others (such as me), fermented cucumbers are the taste people crave. In the United States, there is a two billion dollar industry for just fermented cucumbers (Breidt et al. 2007). Pickles are known for their strong, bitter flavor, but the flavors range within the type of pickles consumed. The types of pickles: are dill, which is the most common type that people buy; is sweet, which is used for relishes; and Kosher pickles (Romanowski 1999). The average size of a pickle varies depending on what the consumer wants; they can come whole, whole with mixed sizes, sliced lengthwise, sliced crosswise, waffle cut, diced, or chopped and made into …show more content…
Early written documentation of pickles comes from the play The Taciarchs by Eupolis, a Greek writer from around the time of 429 to 412 B.C. Pickles are also mentioned in the Christian Bible. In the Middle East, cucumbers were first fermented around 2000 B.C. (Breidt et al. 2007). The recipe for fermenting cucumbers came from Asia (McGowan 2010). Pickles were not sold in jars until the 1820s (Romanowski 1999). In the United States pickles are manufactured mainly in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio, and California (Oberg and Brown 1993). Pickle slices for hamburgers are the most sought- after style of pickle for consumers (Breidt et al. 2007). Being a popular food choice, pickles on average of 5 million pounds of pickles are devoured on a daily basis (Romanowski …show more content…
The cucumbers go through a process of cleaning, which removes the excess stems, blossoms, dirt, and other foreign matter. Inspection is done to make sure no rotten vegetables are used and they are categorized by size and moved to a chiller until needed for the next step (Romanoski 1999). The second step is preservation, where the change from cucumber to pickles happens in one of the three different ways mentioned above. I will be explaining the method of fermentation, which is one of the oldest methods of pickling. Before fermentation happens, cucumbers are put into a big, air-tight tank of either fiberglass or stainless steel and are then placed outdoors (Breidt et al. 2007). Tanks have 10% salt and 90% water added to them, which constitutes a solution called brine. UV radiation heats the exposed brine to contribute to the fermentation process. The breakdown of glucose stored in plant tissue occurs, and the naturally living LAB on the cucumbers helps carry out this process and leaves lactic acid (McGowan 2010). Manufacturers prefer using the naturally occurring LAB on cucumbers, but some factories do use inoculation of this bacterium. The rates of reaction are controlled by the temperature of the brine and by the concentration of salt. Fermentation takes 3 to 8 weeks and maintains a temperature of 21-26°C (Oberg and Brown 1993). Periodically, the tanks will be degassed due to the

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