Fermentation and its application in vegetable preservation: A review Das Ratan1,*, Pandey Himanshu2, Das Bappi3, Sarkar Susmita4 1Department of Horticulture and Postharvest Technology, Visva Bharati, WB, India 2Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, India 3CPRI, Shillong, Meghalaya, India 4Department of Plant Breeding, ICAR, Tripura Center, India *Corresponding author: ratandasiihr@gmail.com
Online published on 24 April, 2017. Abstract Fresh vegetables have a very short shelf-life since these are subjected to physiological and rapid microbial spoilage and in some cases contamination by pathogens also. Processing or modification of raw foods by using food processing methods and techniques is needed to meet the challenges of food security and safety, nutrition demand and availability of food. Fermentation is one of the important methods of preservation of vegetables. It is one of the oldest means of food preservation and reduces the risk of food borne diseases and food spoilage. Sauerkraut is a traditional fermented vegetable product and is prepared by the fermenting salted cabbage by naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria. Kimchi is another such products made by lactic fermentation of radish and other vegetables. Carrot when fermented similarly gives ‘kangi’, a beverage very popular in several parts of India. In this review is focussed on the lactic acid fermentation of vegetables. Top Keywords Fermentation, food, spoilage, vegetable, microbes, lactic acid bacteria, sauerkraut, preservation. Top |