Improvements in Preservation Properties of Homemade-Style Pickled Cucumber in Cambodia

<p>Pickled cucumbers selling at wet markets in Cambodia are popular among local people. It has been reported that pickles using homemade recipes are at a high risk of spoiling and causing food poisoning, as there are no heating steps in the production process. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the hygienic conditions of the food supply to make safe pickles in Cambodia. Heat treatments using hot pack filling and pasteurization lead to microbiologically safe products and extended shelf life. This study aimed to examine the effect of heat treatments (hot pack filling and pasteurization) on preservative properties and to evaluate the acceptability of the pickled cucumbers prepared with the heating process. Pickled cucumbers prepared with and without the heating process were made using a traditional Cambodian recipe and stored at 30 °C for 7 days. The presence of total viable bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, yeasts, and molds in the pickled products was tested during the storage periods. The samples without the heating process resulted in contamination with coliforms, E. coli, yeasts, and molds and were in an initial putrefactive state because of the number of total viable bacteria. On the other hand, coliforms, E. coli, yeasts, and molds were not detected in the samples prepared with the heating process from Day 0 to Day 7. This result indicated that the pasteurization treatment killed many spoilage microbes, including foodborne pathogens. To investigate the acceptability of the pickled cucumbers prepared with the heating process, sensory evaluation tests were performed. From the results of the sensory evaluation and questionnaire survey, there was the possibility of acceptance of the pickled cucumbers prepared with the heating process made either in Japan or Cambodia by the Cambodian panelists; however, further improvement in the softness of the pickles was commented upon.</p>