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Pickling It is believed that cucumbers were first pickled 4500 years ago in Mesopotamia. Cleopatra thought pickled cucumbers made her beautiful. The armies of Julius Caesar and Napoleon were fed pickles. During World War II, forty percent of the pickles produced in the U.S. went to the armed forces. Pickles are still a popular food, with over 5 million lb (2.27 million kg) consumed daily.

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Pickling of plant and animal foods is a relatively old method of food preservation. It is estimated that the first pickles were produced over 4,000 years ago using cucumbers native to India. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks both have written about the use of pickles for their nutritive value and healing power. Pickles were a common food during the time of the Roman Empire and they soon spread throughout Europe. In America, pickles have always been popular. The first travelers to America kept pickles in large supply because they were nutritious and did not spoil during the long journeys. It is interesting to note that Amerigo Vespucci, America's namesake, was also a pickle salesman. He was the main pickle supplier to many ships. The first large-scale commercial production of pickles did not take place until 1820, when Nicholas Appert began selling pickles in jars. Over the years, the pickle production process has become more automated, however the basic pickling methods have changed very little since the technology was first developed.

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Pickles are made by heating food to kill bacteria or make bacterial spores dormant and then placing the food in vinegar (which contains acetic acid). Fresh-packed pickles have a shelf life of many months. Most commercially produced pickles are fresh packed. Home-made pickles are often made using a simpler, short brine method in which the pickles are placed in brine just long enough to draw out water and then canned in hot vinegar. Many different types of cucumber pickles can be made. Dill and garlic are the flavorings traditionally used to make sour pickles. Sweet pickles are not sour at all. Bread and butter pickles are a popular kind of sweet pickle flavored with onion.

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How Does Technology Allow Us To Mass Produce Pickled Foods? Answers and Pictures from Nash Produce Co. Nashs cucumber processing facility includes over 70,000 square feet with 2 Backus 12 drop cucumber graders, fresh cucumber crate lines, and a hydro cooler. Our cucumbers are unloaded from the field trailers with water and separated according to diameter and length. A tractor-trailer load of pickling cucumbers can be graded every fifteen minutes. Nash Produces growers produce a total of approximately 2,000 acres of pickling cucumbers for the spring and fall crops. Harvesting is all done by hand with hundreds of pickers needed. We are gentle with the crop as to ensure quality. For processing, pickling cucumbers can be separated into twelve grades and are sold bulk or in forty- two bushel bins. For fresh market pickling cucumbers are processed and placed in bins according to size graded a second time. After packing all products are immediately run through a hydro cooler and shipped or held in our coolers with high humidity.

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The Manufacturing Process Making cucumber pickles can take up to 42 days depending on the manufacturer's recipe. Production involves four primary steps including harvesting, preservation, pasteurization, and final processing. The process is highly automated once the cucumbers are delivered to the processing plant.

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Harvesting Once harvested by field workers, cucumbers are put in large bins and transported to a receiving station. If the cucumbers are transported a long distance, refrigerated trucks are used. This helps to maintain the fresh appearance and flavor of the vegetable. At the receiving station, the cucumbers are poured out onto a conveyor where they are subjected to a cleaning process that removes the excess stems, blossoms, dirt, and other foreign matter. This step is important because trace amounts of bacteria on unwashed cucumbers can ruin the final pickle product. They are then moved to an inspection station where rotten vegetables are removed and the rest are separated by size. From here they are moved to a chiller and stored until they are ready to be used.

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Preservation Depending on the manufacturer, conversion of the cucumber into a pickle can be done in one of three ways including fermentation, pasteurization, and refrigeration. The first and oldest method is a process known as fermentation. In this method, the cucumbers are transferred to large, air tight, fiber-glass or stainless steel tanks. Some of these containers can hold over 40,000 lb (18,160 kg) of cucumbers. The tanks are filled with a brine solution, which is made up of water and 10% salt.

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It is exposed to very high temperatures for a set amount of time. This has the effect of killing all of the natural bacteria that may be present. These sterilized cucumbers can then be further processed into pickles. This method of production results in pickles that have a shelf life of only a few months. The third method is by refrigeration and acidification. These pickles depend on the cold temperature and vinegar solution to prevent spoilage. While they are much faster to manufacture, they have a much shorter shelf life.

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Processing and Packaging After the pickles have adequately fermented, the salt solution is drained. The pickles are then immersed in water to remove all of the salt they may have acquired during the cure. From this point, the pickles are moved along a conveyor to a slicing machine which cuts the pickles to the correct size depending on the type of product desired. They can be cut into slices, chips, or can even be diced. Attempts are made to maintain as clean an environment as possible for the pickles as contamination by microbes could result in an undesirable product.

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After being cut, the pickles are typically placed in glass jars although cans, plastic bottles, and pouches have also been used. The packing machines are designed to deliver the correct amount of vegetable to each jar. The jars are moved along to a liquid filling machine, which fills them with the liquor. The pickle liquor consists of vinegar, salt, and other materials mentioned previously. This liquor is premixed in a large container prior to filling. To ensure an adequate distribution of spices, these are some-times filled into the jars before the liquor. From the filling machine, the jars are capped and moved along for pasteurization.

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Pasteurization and sealing The problem of spoilage is evident throughout the pickle making process. Cucumbers can spoil during the brining process and even during packing if they are exposed to air for too long. For this reason the pickles are pasteurized. In order to pasteurize the pickles, they are typically exposed to high temperatures for an extended period of time. Depending on how long the pickles are heated, pasteurization can either kill off all of the acetic acid-tolerant organisms or inactivate all of the enzymes in the vegetable. In both cases, pasteurization increases the shelf life of the pickles.

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Most pickles are vacuum packed which means the air is removed from the jar before it is sealed. This helps maintain the pickle taste and prevents contamination by microorganisms. In order to vacuum pack the pickles, air in the jar is replaced with steam just before the cap is sealed. When the steam cools and condenses, it creates a vacuum, reducing the amount of free oxygen present in the jar. The vacuum seal is responsible for the familiar pop that is heard when a jar of pickles is opened. The jars are next moved along a convey-or to a labeling machine. Labels are automatically affixed and a freshness date is stamped on the jar. From here the jars are moved to automatic packing machines which put them in cardboard boxes. They are transferred to pallets and shipped out to the local retailers.

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The Future Research focusing on improvements in pickle technology is being done by the various seed companies and universities. One of the primary areas of interest is the development of improved pickling cucumbers. Many university groups are using biotechnology and plant grafting techniques to produce cucumbers that are larger, more plentiful, and resistant to microbial and insect-born diseases. New fanring methods concentrating on obtaining a larger harvest with fewer plants are also being tested. In addition, pickle manufacturers are also coming up with new flavors of pickles by varying the composition of the liquor and using different fermentation organisms.

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The Pickle Science and Technology Program in the Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas is dedicated to increasing product value by improving production and quality of pickled vegetables. The program, which enjoys significant industry support, includes the annual national evaluation of pickled vegetable products. Research, technical service and training are provided to assist suppliers and manufacturers of all types of acidified and fermented vegetables.

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The emphasis of the Program is to apply science-based principles obtained through research to improve commercial pickled vegetable production operations and product quality. Experienced scientists use state-of-the-art research and processing equipment to address technical challenges facing the pickling industry.

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1. Management/disposal of brine: The disposal of waste brine is expensive and has significant environmental implications. Recycling of brine could significantly reduce this problem. However, softening enzymes, particularly polygalacturonase, build up in pickling brine as the brine is reused. A process using Pure-Flo B80, developed by the UA Pickle Science and Technology Program is now widely used by industry to remove these softening enzymes. Work is underway to develop a continuous brine processing system which will further improve the efficiency of brine usage. Examples of issues currently being studied include:

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2. Use of waste products: Discarded oversized cucumbers represent about 15 percent of the cucumbers produced for pickle manufacturing. Studies are underway focusing on the development of usable products for these currently unusable cucumbers. Two volatiles that can be extracted from these cucumbers have been found to be effective inhibitors of mold, yeast, and some pathogenic microorganisms. These volatiles have potential for use in a variety of food and cosmetic products, supplying a market for these waste cucumbers.

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3. Packaging technology: Heat tolerant containers are being tested for processing pickle products. As a result of this research, two pickle companies are test marketing sweet pickle products in different packages. Further research is needed to improve the composition of container materials, sealing of containers, and stabilization of flavors.

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Pickle Notes After reading the pickle information Collect notes on page 23 In your student packet

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Pickle Experiment Turn to page 24 in your student packet to plan and conduct an experiment about the effects of the pickling process.

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Bread and Butter Pickle Recipe 25 to 30 medium sized cucumbers washed and sliced 8 large white onions sliced 1/2 cup salt 3 to 4 trays (1 bag) of ice 5 cups vinegar 5 cups sugar 2 tablespoons mustard seed 1 teaspoon tumeric 1/2 teaspoon cloves (optional) Combine cucumber and onion slices with salt and ice. Let stand 3 hours and drain. Combine vinegar, sugar, and spices in large preserving kettle. Bring to a boil. Add drained cucumbers. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil. Pack while hot and seal at once.