Explain Fermented Vegetable Foods
Vegetables either in raw or cooked form as salad preparations, soup, dry vegetables and curry or as stuffing in a variety of snacks. But, do you know, we can even consume these by making fermented products. Can you think of any such food item? Yes, of course, it is pickles which all of us relish sometimes or the other.
Let us learn about these fermented vegetable products and see which microorganisms
are involved in their preparation.
i) Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is a fermented fresh cabbage product. It is popular in USA and Europe. The main organism which is involved in the fermentation of this pickle is lactic acid bacteria, Leuconostoc mesenteroides followed by Lactobacillus plantarum.
ii) Cucumber pickle
Cucumber pickle is a fermentation product of fresh cucumbers. Several lactic acid bacteria are involved in the preparation of this pickle. Lactobacillusplantarum is the most important organism required for the fermentation of cucumber pickle.