| Summary: | The effect of blanching agents (citric acid and alum) and the salt concentrations (10%, 15% and 20% (w/w)) on the quality of pickled chilli was studied. The results showed that both citric acid and alum hadno effect on pH, titratable acidity and moisture content of pickled chilli. However, the pickled chilli blanched in alum solution had lower counts of total microorganisms and lactic acid bacteria than those of pickled chilli blanched in citric acid solution indicating that alum had greater inhibitory effect on microbial growth than citric acid. On the other hand, the salt concentration affected the moisture content of pickled chilli.The moisture content of the pickled chilli increased as the salt concentration increased. In addition, the salt concentration also affected the microbial growth in pickled chilli. The data indicated that the growth oftotal microorganisms and lactic acid bacteria decreased as the salt concentration increased. This study showed that the combination of using alum solution as blanching agent and 20% salt exhibited greatest inhibitory effect on microbial growth.
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