Preservation and Utilization of Vegetables to Produce Safe, High Quality Products and Reduce Waste

Objective 1. Enable the commercialization of reduced NaCl fermentation technology by identifying suitable starter cultures, optimizing processing parameters to prevent freezing of the fruits; and develop a shelf-life model that allows processors to rapidly and accurately predict end-use quality. Subobjective 1a: Develop starter cultures for cucumber fermentations brined with calcium chloride. Subobjective 1b: Identify parameters for long term storage of fermented cucumbers brined with calcium chloride so that freezing damage of the fruits can be prevented and removal of goods from tanks is facilitated during the winter season. Subobjective 1c: Develop an accelerated shelf-life model for fermented cucumber pickles. Objective 2. Determine the factors that maximize survival of probiotic bacteria and retention or production of healthful components in pickled vegetables to facilitate the commercialization of new cucumber pickling methods for delivery of live, probiotic, lactic acid bacteria to consumers. Subobjective 2a: Determine the acid resistance and growth characteristics of probiotic lactic acid bacteria that influence their survival in acidified and fermented cucumbers. Subobjective 2b: Identify suitable methods for the incorporation of probiotic lactic acid bacteria in refrigerated cucumber pickles. Subobjective 2c: Evaluate production and/or retention of bioactive peptides in fermented cucumbers. Objective 3. Enable new commercial methods for process-ready-fermentation or acidification to convert surplus vegetables at grocery stores and farmers' markets into value-added products with enhanced probiotic content. Objective 4. Integrate sweetpotato genotypes intended for commercial processing with their potential for increased levels of bioactive compounds and high quality food products.