SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PICKLING CUCUMBERS TO BLOATER DAMAGE BY CARBONATION

Abstract

ABSTRACT The susceptibility of pickling cucumbers to bloater damage was studied by artificial carbonation of brined cucumbers with mixtures of CO 2 in N 2 . Bloater damage was induced within a few hours by carbonation of heated and unheated cucumbers, independent of microbial growth, suggesting that a physical‐chemical mechanism causes bloating. Evidence indicated, however, that biological factors may also influence bloating. Unheated, brined cucumbers bloated only slightly when carbonation was begun immediately after brining, or about a month or longer after brining. The cucumbers bloated extensively, however, when carbonation was begun between about 1 and 30 days after brining. Damage was more closely associated with % saturation than with concentration of dissolved CO 2 . Serious bloater damage was prevented when CO 2 in brines was maintained below 50% saturation. Bloater damage resulted within a few hours, however, if brine CO 2 greatly exceeded this level. Cucumbers varied in tolerance to CO 2 before development of serious damage. The method herein reported for controlling levels of CO 2 in the brine may be useful in further study of factors that influence the susceptibility of cucumbers to bloater damage.