Lactic acid fermentation Examples: Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles
Almost all vegetables can be fermented with the help of lactic acid bacteria. These are located on the outer layer of the untreated vegetables: no starter culture (cultivated bacterial strains) is necessary to start lactofermentation!
In the absence of oxygen, lactic acid bacteria produce acid and other active substances (e.g. bacteriocins) which displace spoiling microorganisms (and pathogenic germs). This makes your vegetables durable for a very long time.
The lactic acid fermentation goes through three phases:
