UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN KIMIA

FOOD PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY
(CHE658)
NAME: STUDENT NO :
NURUL NAJIHA BINTI SURANI 2017632166
SITI NUR AISHAH BINTI MOHAMAD FAUDZI 2017632136
NURUL AMIRAH BINTI MUSDAFA KAMAL 2017632124
QURRATUAINI BINTI MD ALI 2017632078
NURSYAWANI YASMIN BINTI RAMLI 2017632094
NURLINA SYAHIIRAH BINTI MD TAHIR 2017632214
GROUP : EH2205D
EXPERIMENT : PRESERVATION BY PICKLING
SEMESTER :5
DATE PERFORMED : 15 / 11 / 2018
PROGRAMME / CODE : CHEMICAL ENGINEERING / EH220
SUBMIT TO : MADAM SITI NOOR SUZILA BINTI MAQSOOD
UL – HAQUE (DR)

No. Title Allocated Marks (%) Marks

1 Abstract/Summary
2 Introduction
3 Literature Review
4 Materials & Apparatus
5 Methodology/Procedure
6 Results & Discussion
7 Conclusion
8 Recommendation
9 Reference
10 Appendix
TOTAL MARKS 100

Remarks:

Checked by: Rechecked by:

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Date: Date:

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 3

3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................ 4

4.0 MATERIALS AND APPARATUS ............................................................................. 6

5.0 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 7

6.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................. 12

7.0 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 19

8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................ 20

9.0 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 21

10.0 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 22

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1.0 ABSTRACT

Pickling is one of the most well-known method in preserving foods. The objective of the
experiment is to observe the effect of pickling on the quality of chillies. The quality that have
been chosen to be observed are colour, texture, smell, pH and bacteria colony on the pickles
chillies. The chillies is first sterilized at 100⁰C for 15 min before being immersed in 300mL
distilled water. Then, 100 mL vinegar, 3 table spoon of sugar and 1 table spoon of salt is added
on the sample. Nutrient Agar (NA) is used for the cultivation of bacteria obtained from the
sample. The incubation is done at 37⁰C for 24 hours. The colour of green chillies degraded
over one week of pickling time due to enzyme browning. The smell of the solution becoming
more acidify day to day as the acid give its characteristic sour tang. The texture of the pickled
chillies become soft and squishy compared to their original texture which are crunchy and rigid.
The pH of the sample decreases right after the vinegar is added, however increases as the
pickling time increases due to osmosis process occur between the chillies cell and the pickled
solution. 34 bacteria detected for the sterilized chillies added with 300mL of distilled water
sample at t = 0h (10.30 am), 73 bacteria detected for the samples added with 100 mL vinegar,
3 table spoon sugar and 1 table spoon salt at time, t = 0h (11.08 am) and 3 bacteria detected for
the sample at time, t = 1h (12.08 pm). The experiment was successfully conducted using several
parameters to improve the pickling techniques of food preservation.

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

Pickling is one of the most well-known method in preserving foods. It is categorized as food
preservation under fermentation method as it have quite similar procedure in performing it.
Variety of foods can be preserved using this method and the most popular food being pickled
are vegetables and fruits. It is found that these three countries pickles’ are ordinarily made out
of cucumber, carrot, chillies, papaya and pineapple. In this experiment, green chillies are used
and chosen to be pickled as it is one of the famous vegetables pickles in town.

Pickled green chillies is a familiar seasoning that are served together with Asian noodle
dishes located in street stalls or even fancy restaurant. It can be seen in the middle of the table
or at the corner of the wall placed together with soy sauce, chillies sauce and pepper. The most
preferable and admiring dishes that suit with pickled green chillies are hailam mee and char
kuew tiaw which boost up one’s appetite. The best thing about pickling is it can be done easily
at home. Homemade pickle is preferable as it helps in sustaining the food shelf life.

Pickling is admired because it is an easy method to preserve food and helps in slowing
down the decaying process so that the food can be kept longer. It can be done by adding salt,
sugar, spices, brine or vinegar to the food that are desired to be pickled. Vinegar is the famous
medium for pickling. It is suitable as the vinegar itself are in high acidity along with the acid
forms from the food itself helps in controlling and preventing the growth of microorganisms
or bacteria present in the food. In fermentation pickling, the food itself produces preservatives
agent by involving lactobacillus bacteria that produce lactic acid as the preservative agent
(Pickling, Last edited 2018).

Eugenia Bone stated that the most vital thing about using vinegar is its five percent
acidity that causes the changes in flavour, texture and acts as a preservative. Distilled white
vinegar and white wine vinegar are mostly used in pickling process as it does not affect the
colour of most vegetables (Bone, 2009). Fruits and vegetables have natural antioxidants use to
fight against unstable free radicals formed naturally in human body which are harmful to health.
However, cooking in high temperature usually break down some of the antioxidant due to heat
sensitive nutrients. Thus, pickling helps in sustaining the antioxidants present naturally in the
food (Stevens, 2015). Some other benefits of pickling are it improves food shelf life, fight
against bad bacteria, increases good bacteria and alter the taste of food by adding vinegar as
the medium of pickling which have high acidity that prevents the growth of microorganism
that causes deterioration of food ((C), 2016).

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3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Basically, a pickle is a vegetables, fruits, eggs or even meats that has been made sour and
changes the original taste. Pickling refers to the act of acidifying the foods. There many ways
to do pickle, but the way a pickle is acidified can classified whether it’s a vinegar pickle or a
fermented pickle. Nowadays, vinegar pickling is the most easy and common way. Vinegar can
be used to make fridge pickles or canned pickles. (Amanda, 2015)

However, according to Breidt (2006) as cited (Shreya S. Kamat, Kshirod K. Dash, V.M.
Balasubramaniam, 2018), American pickles are traditionally prepared by direct acidification
in conjunction with thermal processing. Direct acidification skips the fermentation step where
the vegetables like fresh-pack dill cucumbers and pepper are directly packed in jar and acidified
by acidic brine which are vinegar, salt and water. Etchells and Jones (1942) suggested a thermal
pasteurization of 75 °C for 15 min for acidified vegetables, so that the pH is below than 4.6 to
ensure the product's microbial safety and enzyme inactivation as cited by Shreya S. Kamat,
Kshirod K. Dash, V.M. Balasubramaniam (2018). Furthermore, acidic pH can inhibit the
growth of bacterial spores during long storage and the process can prolong the shelf-stability
to the pickled vegetables. (Haarsma, 2017)

Some quality factors such as odour, flavour, colour, size uniformity, texture, defects,
and pH are crucial for grading of pickles. For example, good quality brined-cucumbers are
considered by the colour from translucent light green to dark green, good texture and no
mechanical damage. A defective pickles are categorized when the hollow centre is presence
and soft tissue. It is hard to detect even with the latest machine vision systems when bloating
damage is mostly hidden inside pickles. The bloated pickles are separated from normal ones
by visual inspection manually on the moving conveyor belts and hand touch to determine if a
pickle is defective. (Diwan P. Ariana, Renfu Lu, 2010)

Toxicants are hazardous substances causing serious health effects when a person is
exposed to it. A degree of toxicity is associated to the type of toxic materials, the concentration
and the exposure to it. Among some type of toxic entities, chemical toxicants including
inorganic substances such as organic compounds and alum are more strongly dangerous
because of their chemical interaction with various parts of the human body. This dangerous
phenomenon is known as food adulteration that usually faced by the food industry and

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consumers. Therefore, it is important to investigate and inspect the quality of food because it
is directly related to people’s health and social progress.

Fruit pickle is one of the foods that attracted the attention of adulterators because of
consuming a large amount of it in the world as a famous traditional condiment and preservative.
It is also beneficial for health, such as preventing colds, treating gastropathy and others. One
way for adulterators for production of fake fruit pickles is by adding alum and synthetic acetic
acid to the fruit pickles. Therefore, it is important to investigate the authentication of fruit
pickles by a quality control process to ensure their safety and its value.

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4.0 MATERIALS AND APPARATUS

4.1 Apparatus

1) Water heater 9) Wire Loop

2) Chromameter 10) Measuring Cylinder
3) Beaker 11) Sealed Dish
4) Sieve 12) Colony Counter
5) Glass Jar 13) Container
6) Spoon 14) Knife
7) Bunsen Burner 15) Cutting Board
8) pH meter 16) Weighting scale

4.2 Materials

1) Green Chillies
2) Nutrient Agar Dish
3) Vinegar
4) Sugar
5) Salt
6) Distilled Water

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5.0 METHODOLOGY

Figure 1 Figure 2

1. The fresh green chillies was prepared by remove the stalk and washed thoroughly using
tap water.
2. The green chillies were cutting into pieces as shown in figure 1 and the initial mass of
green chillies was recorded in figure 2.
3. The green chillies was placed into the glass jar and the hot water was prepared using
electric water heater.

Figure 3 Figure 4

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4. The hot water was poured into the glass jar and let stand for about 20 seconds for
sterilized process as shown in figure 3.
5. The sliced green chillies were separated from hot water by using sieve as shown in
figure 4 and placed into the container.

Figure 5 Figure 6

6. The 300 ml of distilled water were measured by using the beaker and poured into the
container as shown in figure 5.
7. The result was recorded using method in the Appendix A
8. The bacteria’s colony was determined using the method given in Appendix B.

Figure 7 Figure 8

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 9. The 100 ml of vinegar, one spoon of salt and three spoon of sugar was prepared and
poured into the sample from step 6 as shown in figure 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
10. The result was recorded using method in the Appendix A
11. The bacteria’s colony was determined using the method given in Appendix B.
12. The sample was placed into the refrigerant at temperature of 19°C.
13. The step 10, step 11 and step 12 was repeated after one hour of pickling process.
14. The step 10 and step 12 was repeated after 24 hours, 96 hours and 144 hours of pickling
process.

Appendix A: The colour, texture, smell and pH value test of the sample.

1. The sample was prepared for the experiment.

Figure 9 Figure 10

2. One of the sliced green chilli was tested colour by using chromameter as shown in
figure 9 and the result was recorded as shown in figure 10.
3. The texture and smell were observed by using sensory analysis and recorded.

9
 Figure 11
4. The pH value was recorded by using pH meter as shown in figure 11.

Appendix B: The microbe test of the sample onto the Nutrients Agar (NA)

Figure 12
1. The sample and Nutrient Agar dish was prepared for the experiment as shown in figure
12.
2. The pairs of gloves worn and sprayed with hand sanitizer such as ethanol. It is to avoid
contamination to the sample while holding it.
3. The wire loop was placed into the measuring cylinder with distilled water before
started.

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 Figure 13 Figure 14

4. The wire loop heated using a Bunsen burner until it turned to smolder to make sure that
disinfected not contaminate the sample as shown in figure 13.
5. In figure 14, the wire loop was dipped in the sample.

Figure 15 Figure 16

6. In figure 15, the wire loop was smeared onto the Nutrients Agar (NA).
7. The wire loop was placed into distilled water to remove any traces of the sample.
8. The agar dish was sealed and placed in the incubator at 37°C for overnight.
9. The agar dish was observed and the colony was counted by using colony counter as
shown in figure 16. The amount of colony was recorded.

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 6.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The objective of the experiment is to observe the effect of pickling on the quality of chillies. The quality that have been chosen to be observed are
colour, texture, smell, pH and bacteria colony on the pickles chillies. Table 1 shows the result obtained from the experiment.

Mass of tray = 5.3371 g Volume of Distilled Water = 300 mL Temperature:-

Mass of tray + Chillies = 152.3171 g Volume of Vinegar = 100 mL (a) Pickling Process = 19⁰C
Mass of Chillies = 146.98 g Amount of Sugar = 3 table spoon (b) Colonies Incubation = 37⁰C
Amount of Sugar = 1 table spoon (c) Sterilization (3 min) = 100⁰C

Table 1 – Data on Colour, Texture, Smell, pH And Bacteria Colony Obtained From The Experiment

Properties Solvent
of The
Distilled Water Distilled Water + Vinegar + Salt + Sugar
Chillies
Time, t
0 0 1 24 96 144
(hour)
Date 15/11/2018 15/11/2018 15/11/2018 16/11/2018 19/11/2018 21/11/2018
Time 10.30 am 11.08 am 12.08 pm 12.09 pm 12.06 pm 11.40 am
L* a* b* L* a* b* L* a* b* L* a* b* L* a* b* L* a* b*
33.75 -13.46 17.81 31.10 -12.32 15.10 34.16 -10.10 12.75 38.16 -6.15 7.16 29.55 -6.75 18.08 30.54 -4.85 16.66
Colour
Approach to Approach to Approach to faded
Green Green Pale Green
yellowish brighter yellowish greenish yellowish

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 Very soft and very
Texture Rigid Rigid Rigid Still rigid Soft and squishy
squishy
Spicy smell of
Sharp smell of Sharp sour and Sharp sour and Still sharp sour and Mild sour and
Smell chillies, No sharp
vinegar spicy spicy spicy spicy
smell

pH 5.63 2.51 2.69 2.88 3.80 3.83

Bacteria’s
34 73 3 - - -
Colony

6.1 Colour
The experiment was continued by studying the colour of the chillies’ after has been pickled for a period of time. The objective from the experiment
was to establish to what extent chillies’ colour measurement after pickling process. From the observation, the colour of the chillies became brighter
and lighter compared to the colour before the pickling process done. This vision from the naked eyes was strongly proved by using chromameter
apparatus. The chillies were chopped into rounded shape. One piece from the pickled chilli was placed on the lens of the chromameter. The
chromameter than able to capture the chillies’ colour and read the result based on corresponding colour chart.

The degree of browning was quantify by chromameter read three parts which are L*, a* and b*. L* is the reading on the lightness, going
upwards the colour will become more light and vice versa. Meanwhile, a* indicating colour range from red area to green area horizontally in the
chart. B* read blue colour area until yellow colour area vertically on the chart. From day 1, before vinegar, salt and sugar have been added, the
colour was measured and chromameter read the colour at the coordinate L*= 33.75, a*= -13.46, and b*= 17.81. The colour was fall at area as

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shown in figure below (refer bright red colour indicator). After 1 hour the vinegar, salt and
sugar added, the colour coordinate fall on the area, L*= 34.16, a*=- -10.10 and b*=12.75 (refer
grey colour indicator).

The considerable difference on colour lightness was able to observe. The colour on the
chili was continually observed after 24 hours. At the coordinate L*= 38.16, a* = -6.15 and b*
= 7.16 the colour fall on the chart at the area as shown in figure below (refer bright blue
indicator). Based on the chart, the colour was subsequently changed approaching yellowish
area. After 96 hours, chromameter reads L*= 29.55, a*=-6.75 and b*=18.08. Lastly, by 144
hours been pickled, the reading fall on area L*=30.54, a*=-4.85 and b*=16.66 (refer green
indicator). The colour of the chillies’ was approached to faded greenish yellow. The colour
degraded as expected theoretically.

The colour turned to pale colour due to enzyme browning. Usually phenolic compound
is components which partially responsible for colour, flavour and nutritional qualities on fruits
as well as vegetables (Macheix, Fleuriet, & Billot, 1990). In plant cells, like chillies vacuoles
were the right place to store phenolic compounds, whereas polyphenol oxidase (PPO) located
in plastids. The area which damaged in the cells allows PPO to contact with phenolic
compounds and caused reaction known as enzymatic browning (Vaugh & Duke, 1984). The
enzymatic browning will caused PPO to oxidase to produce quinones. These quinones will
polymerize with other quinones or phenolics, which brought brown pigment towards foods. To
be brief, the purpose to study the colour changes was successfully achieved on this experiment
and we can confide to say that the quality of colour pigment for foods might be face some
constraints in pickling process specifically.

Figure 17 - Coordinate colour corresponding to the chromameter reading

6.2 Texture

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The texture of the chillies is observed during the pickling process. Based on the observation,
the texture of the green chillies when soaked with distilled water for three minutes was rigid
and stiff. It is because the distilled water does not affect the texture of the chillies within a
shorter period. After that, the vinegar, salt and sugar were added and mixed perfectly in the
chillies. At time zeroth to 24 hours the texture of the chillies was still rigid. This is because the
pickle was stored inside the refrigerator at temperature 19oC, thus it will keep the texture and
the stiffness of the chillies.

After 96 hours, the texture of the chillies started to change and become soft and squishy.
This may happen because of the loose structure with large intercellular voids and bulging at
some area in the cells. This loose structure greatly affects the texture of the product. Next 144
hours, the chillies became very soft and squishy compared from its original texture. For 144
hours the chillies were stored at temperature19oC inside the refrigerator. The storage conditions
could affect the chillies to lost texture. The large intercellular voids may enhance water
permeability during storage of the pickle samples. (Shreya S. Kamat, Kshirod K. Dash, V.M.
Balasubramaniam, 2018)

6.3 Smell

The experiment was observed by using sensory analysis for the smell of the sample. From the
observation, the spicy smell of green chillies occurs when the chillies soaked with only distilled
water but the smell turn sharp smell of vinegar after the sample mixed with vinegar, sugar and
salt. Therefore, it conclude that no reaction occur in the sample. After one hour, the smell of
the sample turns sharp sour and spicy. It is because vinegar acts as the source of acidity being
absorbed in the fibre of the chillies with sugar and salt. From the reference, the pickling process
is the fermentation by lactic acid-forming bacteria, which the vinegar as the lactic acid, sugar
serve as food for lactic acid bacteria that convert them into lactic and other acid and the salt
react with distilled water to form brine solution.

After 96 hours, the smell of the sample still the same because the sample was placed in
undesired temperature that slow their reaction. The lactic acid bacteria are most active at 30°C
but the sample placed at temperature of 19°C in this experiment. However, the sample still can
fermented completely but required more time. When the sample fermented for 144 hours, the
smell turns mild sour and spicy because the acid brine solution completely fermented with

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green chillies. From reference, the lactic acid bacteria cease to grow and no further change
takes place in the sample when sufficient lactic add has been formed.

6.4 pH

pH is one of the parameter being observed during this pickling process. pH was observed in
order to find out the influence of initial pH of pickling solution and to find out the acidity of
pickle throughout the given time. The pH of each solution containing green chillies were
observed at different time frame such as during the addition of only distilled water, immediately
after the addition of vinegar, salt and sugar into the distilled water, 1 hour after adding pickling
medium and repeated at 24 hours, 96 hours and 144 hours respectively.

pH versus Time
6.

4.5
pH

3.

1.5

0.
0 38 75 113 150
Time, hour

Figure 18 - Graph of pH versus Time

From the graph plotted in Figure 18, it can be seen that at time 0 hour, there are two
readings of pH being taken. The readings represent the pH of solvent containing green chillies
both taken at room temperature. The high pH value of 5.63 are the pH of distilled water
containing green chillies taken immediately after they have been stirred together. The pure
distilled water without presence of green chillies pH value was observed to be 6.35. The
addition of chillies in the distilled water lowers the pH of the solvent. This is due to the acid
forms from the chillies have been diluted into the distilled water, lowering the pH of solvent.

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From this value, it can also be said and proved that green chillies are an acidic food. To further
ado, the pH value of solvent drop significantly to 2.51 after addition of vinegar, sugar and salt
as the solution of pickling. This result is not surprising as it was affected by the vinegar
containing high [H+] ions which are high in acidity that immediately lowers the pH of the
solvent. Thus, it can be said that acidity of solutions starting at room temperature however, it
does not influence and affect the flavour of the green chillies (E. O. Essary, 1982).

Other than that, the pH value of the pickling solution increases as the time increases.
From the graph, it can be seen that there is a quite linear and significant increase of pH value
from the 24th hour which is 2.88 to 3.80 at 96th hour. This high significant difference value is
affected by the water content from the chillies which have started to perform osmosis with the
pickling solution. The natural water content from the food have high [OH-] ions that increases
the pH value of solution. It reacts with the [H+] ions contains in the pickling solutions and
forms H2O molecules that brings the pH value approaching neutral.

Observing the reading between 96th hour and 144th hour, there are only slight
difference in pH value. This may be due to water content in the food have almost completely
perform osmosis and there is no other high concentration of [OH-] ions that would increase the
pH value. However, the pH value would still increase slowly due to the slow process of [OH-]
ions reacting with [H+] ions to perform H2O molecules. Thus, it can be concluded that the pH
of pickling solutions will increase along with the time due to the natural water content in the
food performing osmosis with the solution.

When the pH value reaches above 4.6, the pickle might probably not safe anymore to
be eaten. According to the articles in (Canning Foods- the pH Factor, 2011), it is desired to
lowers the pH of the foods with pH above 4.6 must be processed in a pressure canner to avoid
and prevent Clostridium botulinum bacteria from growing. This bacteria can survive boiling
water and grow in a sealed jar of low-acid food which really need to be prevented as it will
cause harm to human health. Most bacteria are neutrophiles, meaning they grow optimally at a
pH 5 to 9 within the neutral pH of 7. Most familiar bacteria, like Escherichia coli (E.Coli),
staphylococci, and Salmonella spp. are neutrophiles and do not fare well in the acidic pH of
the stomach. Fungi also thrive at slightly acidic pH values of 5.0–6.0 (The Effects of pH on
Microbial Growth). The pickled green chillies were safe to be eaten as the pH were still lower
than 5 which were free from E.coli and other bad bacteria. Therefore it is proved that pickling

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is the best food preservation method to prevent growth of microorganisms and bacteria as it
lower the pH and increase the acidity of food.

6.5 Bacteria’s Colony

Nutrients Agar (NA) is used for the bacteria’s colony detection on the pickle chillies. The agar
is a non-selective medium for microbes cultivation at which this agar provides the essential
nutrients for most type of microorganisms. The method used for the counting is the Aerobic
Plate Count where the bacteria is counted by using the colony counter. The agar is incubated
at 37⁰C for 24 hours. Based on the data obtained, 34 bacteria detected for the sterilized chillies
added with 300mL of distilled water sample at t = 0h (10.30 am), 73 bacteria detected for the
samples added with 100 mL vinegar, 3 table spoon sugar and 1 table spoon salt at time, t = 0h
(11.08 am) and 3 bacteria detected for the sample at time, t = 1h (12.08 pm).

The bacteria from the chillies is believed to be completely killed after the sterilization
process at 100⁰C for 15 min. However, the addition of distilled water on the sterilized chillies
is believed to be one of the factor as to why 34 bacteria is detected on the nutrients agar plate.
The further addition of vinegar, sugar and spoon contribute to the access of bacteria on the
samples and this why the bacteria count increase to 73 bacteria. The bacteria decreases
drastically to only 3 bacteria after an hour of pickling process is believed due to the decreases
in pH making the environment of the bacteria is too acidic for them to survive. The data for
time, t = 24 hours, t = 96 hours and t = 144 hours cannot be determined for the bacteria colony
due to limitation on the nutrient agar (NA).

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7.0 CONCLUSION

This study focused on the effective of processing and preservation of pickled green chillies, as
well as to observe the pH, colour, texture and smell of fermented pickle. Also, the bacteria
colony count was measured to determine the safety and quality of the pickled products. From
this experiment, it can be concluded that the pH of pickling solution increases along with time
due to osmosis process occurs within the solution and the chillies. Since the pH value is lower
than 5, it is safe to be eaten as it inhibited the growth of microorganisms in the solution. In
order to that, the colour of green chillies changed to pale colour in a week of pickling. The
colour has degraded as predicted due to enzyme browning. Moreover, the smell of the solution
becoming more acidify day to day as the acid give its characteristic of sour tang. Instead of
colour and smell of pickled chillies, the texture also change with time. The result showed that
the pickled chillies become soft and squishy compared to their original texture which are
crunchy and rigid. This is because the cell structure been loose with large intercellular voids
and swollen at some area in the cells. Lastly, 34 bacteria detected for the sterilized chillies
added with 300 mL of distilled water sample at t = 0h (10.30 am), 73 bacteria detected for the
samples added with 100 mL vinegar, 3 table spoon sugar and 1 table spoon salt at time, t = 0h
(11.08 am) and 3 bacteria detected for the sample at time, t = 1h (12.08 pm). The acidic
condition of the pickled chillies killed the microorganism over time. As the conclusion, this
experiment was successfully conducted with using several parameters to improve the
techniques of food preservation.

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8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
There are some recommendations to improve the hygiene and the quality of the pickled
products. Firstly, the food can be pre-soaked in brine before transferring to vinegar. This
reduces the water content of the food, which would otherwise dilute the vinegar. This method
is particularly useful for fruit and vegetables with a high natural water content. Secondly, a soft
water is recommended for pickle making because hard water may contribute to undesirable
effect on the colour and flavour of pickled products. Next, as the vinegar is the most important
ingredient in pickle recipes, it should be used in an adequate amount of 5% acidity to protect
the products from any bacteria and illness to consumer. Besides, the packaging of the pickled
products are also crucial to prevent any reaction of the metals with acid or salt, which
simultaneously affect the quality and safety of pickles. Hence, use food-grade unchipped
enamelware, glass, stainless steel, or stoneware utensils. Lastly, pickled products is
recommended to mainly kept under refrigerated and airtight condition because exposure to
heat, freezing, or light will decrease the quality and the shelf life of canned food.

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9.0 REFERENCES

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Canning Foods- the pH Factor. (2011, August 20). Retrieved November 28, 2018, from HGIC
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Macheix, J., Fleuriet, A., & Billot, J. (1990). Fruits Phenolics.

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Microbiology: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/the-effects-of-ph-on-
microbial-growth/

Sri S.Chenna Kesava Reddy and Mrs.R.Preethi Sagar. (n.d.). Department of Food Science and
Technology. Retrieved from Fruits and Vegetable Processing:
https://www.angrau.ac.in/media/10841/fdst215.pdf

Vaugh, K., & Duke, S. (1984). Function of polyphenold oxidase in higher plants. Physiol Plant.

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10.0 APPENDICES

Figure 19 - Coordinate colour corresponding to the chromameter reading

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