Changes occurring during date pickling process
The possibility of production of an untraditional pickle from date (Phownix dactylifera L.) using date byproducts like Kimri (pre-maturated date) and Seas (unfertilized date) was the main goal of this study. In order to object this goal, both of date types were pickled in different brines (10% NaCl, 10% NaCl + 200 ppm sodium benzoate, 10% NaCl + 1% glucose + 1% starter and 10% NaCl + 0.5% citric acid), stored at room temperature for seven weeks and weekly analyzed for chemical parameters (NaCl%, TSS, pH and acidity %) and sensory evaluation. Lactobacillus plantarum was used as an inoculumn in date pickle. Also, total bacterial and lactic acid bacterial counts were performed. From obtained results, it was concluded that date could be considered as an excellent raw material for pickling process and using of brine mixture containing citric acid had the highest score in sensory evaluation. Finally, this search was only a trail or start and will be followed by group of studies.