Consumer Acceptability of Cucumber Pickles Produced by Fermentation in Calcium Chloride Brine for Reduced Environmental Impact

Abstract

Fermentation of cucumbers in calcium chloride (CaCl2 ) brine has been proposed as an alternative process to reduce the environmental impact of traditional, high salt fermentations. The objective of this research was to determine whether consumer acceptability of pickle products would be impacted by fermentation and storage of cucumbers in CaCl2 brine. Cucumbers were fermented and stored with 0.1M CaCl2 or 1M sodium chloride (NaCl) in open-air, 3000 gal tanks at a commercial facility and processed into hamburger dill chips containing 0.38M NaCl. Cucumbers fermented in CaCl2 required additional desalting to reduce CaCl2 concentrations to that of current products. Consumers (n = 101) showed no significant preference for pickles from different fermentation treatments, whether stored for 2 mo (P = 0.75) or 8 mo (P = 0.68) prior to processing. In contrast, NaCl fermented pickles were preferred over CaCl2 fermented pickles stored for 10 mo and desalted only once (P < 0.01). A series of preference tests indicated that the taste of CaCl2 was not the factor affecting consumer preference, and the 50% detection threshold of CaCl2 in dill pickle chips was found to be 61.8 ± 7.6 mM, indicating that processors could potentially use CaCl2 fermentations with a single desalting step. Consumer liking of flavor (n = 73) was not influenced by fermentation in CaCl2 or by 23 or 35 mM CaCl2 in finished products (P > 0.05), but variability in texture decreased consumer liking (P < 0.05). Although promising, individual fermentation variability and texture quality of CaCl2 fermented products should be further evaluated prior to broad implementation of this process.

Commercial Scale Cucumber Fermentations Brined with Calcium Chloride Instead of Sodium Chloride

“…However, in Trial 4 with fermentations starting in May and a limited bulk storage time of 2 mo, the texture quality attribute values were well within the range of normal commercial products. Despite these perceptable differences in texture quality, no difference in consumer preference was detected for these hamburger dill chips produced from cucumbers fermented in CaCl 2 brines (Wilson and others ), suggesting that this novel brining process is commercially feasible and warrants further study.…”

“…Fermented cucumbers from the 6 tanks in Trials 3 and 4 were processed into hamburger dill chips as described by Wilson and others (). Briefly, the fermented cucumbers were desalted using submersion in fresh water (containing only alum as a firming agent) to remove excess sodium or calcium ions, sliced, packed into 16 oz jars to which a fresh cover liquid containing vinegar and flavorings was added, pasteurized, and stored in ambient temperature (25 ± 2 °C) and lighting.…”

Effect of Brine Acidification on Fermentation Microbiota, Chemistry, and Texture Quality of Cucumbers Fermented in Calcium or Sodium Chloride Brines

“…Removal of acetic acid, addition of 6 mM potassium sorbate as a preservative, and introduction of a minimal air‐purging routine were implemented. However, several consumer sensory tests of cucumber pickles produced with the modified CaCl 2 fermentation process showed a lower texture quality in the pickles produced in CaCl 2 brine (Pérez‐Díaz et al., ; Wilson, Johanningsmeier, & Osborne, ). This overall reduction in texture quality was shown to be directly related to the CaCl 2 fermentation process in a series of commercial fermentations from the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons (McMurtrie & Johanningsmeier, ).…”

Quality of Cucumbers Commercially Fermented in Calcium Chloride Brine without Sodium Salts

“…Despite the overall reduction in mesocarp firmness in the finished products, the cucumber pickles fermented in NaCl brine were still significantly firmer than those fermented with the CaCl 2 process by 1.6 N. Instrumental mesocarp firmness values are well correlated with sensorial measurements of firmness, crispness, hardness, and crunchiness [3,19,20,37,38]. Wilson et al [15] found significant differences in hedonic texture liking for hamburger dill chips produced from cucumbers preserved by NaCl and CaCl 2 fermentation processes that were 1.1 N different in instrumental firmness values. Therefore, it is likely that a consumer would notice the 1.6 N difference in firmness values for pickle products from the NaCl and CaCl 2 fermentation processes.…”

“…In contrast, cucumbers fermented in 12,500 L open-top tanks with the postcommercialization formulation changes showed variability in mesocarp firmness values as well as lower sensory hardness, fracturability, crispness, and crunchiness scores in some pickle products fermented and stored in CaCl 2 brines [3]. Consumer testing also showed a decreased texture liking for cucumber pickles commercially produced with the CaCl 2 brining process in some, but not all, experiments [15]. The objective of this study was to perform a large scale evaluation of commercial cucumber fermentation to determine the variability in physical, textural, and color quality of cucumbers fermented using the CaCl 2 brining process and typical NaCl brining process during routine commercial production of hamburger dill chips.…”