Pickling
Pickling preserves fruits, vegetables, and other foods using controlled acidity, salt, or fermentation, helping extend shelf life, flavour, and product stability.
Pickling is the process of preserving edible products in an acid solution, usually vinegar, or in a salt solution (brine). Where brine is used, the acid responsible for the preservative action — mainly lactic acid — is produced by fermentation rather than added. The process is also known as brining, and the resulting foods as pickles.
Two routes dominate. The first is anaerobic fermentation, carried out in a brine that creates lactic acid. The second is marinating and storing in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid). Most major vegetables can be preserved by pickling, either commercially or in households — cucumbers, cabbage, green olives, carrot and mushrooms among them.
The Indian method starts with salting and curing food in brines to preserve it. Salt and time naturally break down the vegetables and fruits and preserve them via fermentation. Direct sunlight and sufficient ambient light provide the warmth under which the good bacteria break down sugars and create lactic acid, preserving the fruit and giving fermented pickles. The acid then prevents the growth of bacteria that could cause the pickle to go rotten. Fermented homemade pickled carrot, cucumber, chili pepper and garlic are typical of the hot climate of India.
Pickles carry nutritional value as well. Because homemade pickles contain raw and unripe ingredients, they are a good source of antioxidants; they improve the digestive processes of the body, are a reliable source of vitamins and minerals, and produce healthy bacteria in the body. The right amount of salt and oil ensures good quality pickles.