Date of Award

Summer 8-2018

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Food Science and Human Nutrition

Advisor

Denise Skonberg

Second Committee Member

Jennifer Perry

Third Committee Member

Brian Perkins

Additional Committee Members

Juan Romero

Abstract

Fermented vegetables can provide consumers with important health benefits, particularly due to the presence of probiotics. These fermented products have gained popularity with American consumers over the past decade. Therefore, a lacto-fermented seaweed sauerkraut, containing seaweed and cabbage, was developed to address this trend and to create a value-added seaweed product with extended refrigerated shelf life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of kelp species and seaweed incorporation level on the fermentative success, microbial safety, consumer acceptability, and refrigerated shelf life of seaweed sauerkraut for 60 days post inoculation.

Six treatments with varying levels (25%, 50%, 75%) of farm-raised kelp (sugar kelp or winged kelp) were processed in triplicate. Shredded fresh kelp and cabbage were mixed with 2% kosher salt, inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum (~106 CFU/g) and Leuconostoc mesenteroides (~101 CFU/g), and fermented at ambient temperature until a pH of < 4.6 was achieved. The presence of pathogens (Vibrio spp., Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria spp.) was evaluated and coliforms were enumerated in the fresh sauerkraut. Titratable acidity (TA), pH, instrumental texture (shear force), color, antioxidant capacity, aerobic plate counts, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds were measured periodically for 60 days after inoculation by the lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Additionally, acetic acid, lactic acid, sugar (glucose, fructose, sucrose), and ethanol levels were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Multi-way analysis of variance was performed to evaluate significant (p

Kelp species and incorporation levels significantly affected most variables tested in the freshly prepared sauerkraut. LAB grew fastest in the winged kelp treatments, with all products reaching a pH below 4.6 within 3 days and resulting in significantly lower pH and higher TA compared to the sugar kelp treatments. In contrast, the sugar kelp treatments did not achieve a pH of

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