Lab# 1

Lactic Acid Fermentation of Sauerkraut

People have used microorganisms to produce fermented foods for centuries. Common
examples include alcoholic beverages, produced from fermented fruits and grains,
cheeses, produced from fermented milk, and breads, produced from fermented grain
flours. Many vegetables are also fermented to produce foods that have very different
flavors and are much less prone to spoilage than the original material. Examples of
fermented vegetable products include soy sauce and miso, olives, chocolate, coffee, and
pickles.
Cabbage has also been fermented in various fashions by different cultures throughout
history. Modern fermented cabbage products range in style from German sauerkraut to
Korean kimchi.

Materials

Cabbage
Salt
Glass beaker and Ehrlenmeyer flask
Balance (shared)
Knife, mixing bowl, wooden spoon (shared)
Saran wrap
Procedure
1. Each lab bench will set up its own sauerkraut fermentation. First, shred the
cabbage into very thin pieces. You should prepare enough to fill the beaker
loosely.

2. Place the shredded cabbage in a plastic bag and weigh it. Add salt to a final
concentration of about 2.5% (i.e., about 2.5g of NaCl for every 100g of cabbage).

3. Mix the salt and cabbage together thoroughly by shaking the bag (it should start to
look “wet”), then transfer it to your beaker. Press the cabbage down firmly with
the base of the Ehrlenmeyer flask to force out any trapped air bubbles. The
beaker should be about ½ full at this point, and a thin film of juice should
accumulate at the top.

4. Fill the Ehrlenmeyer flask with water and place it on top of the cabbage mixture.
This will serve as a weight to keep the reaction surfaces in close proximity, to
force out gas bubbles as they develop, and to keep air out of the solution. There
should be no air bubbles trapped beneath the flask, and a thin layer of fluid should
continue to cover the top of the mixture around the edge of the flask. (A small
amount of water can be added, if necessary.)
 5. Leaving the flask in place, wrap a piece of saran wrap around the top of the
beaker to retard evaporation. Incubate at room temperature.

6. Check the fermentation each lab period to be sure that the top layer of fluid is still
present and that no gas bubbles have become trapped. Force out any bubbles by
pressing down on the beaker, and replenish the fluid by adding a small amount of
tap water, as needed.

Important: It is imperative that the system be maintained in an anaerobic state! (The

alternative is full-scale fungal rot instead of bacterial fermentation.) You must therefore
be careful to remove any bubbles or air pockets initially present within the cabbage
solution, and you must prevent the top of the mixture from drying out during the
fermentation period by adding water as necessary.

Observation:

Check the pH of the 3-6 day ols sauerkraut.

Record the appearance of the cabbage.Its texture is determined by eating a

piece.(if there is no appearance of spoilage).

Smell of the preparation is noted.