Generally, the sour taste of pot-stewed vegetables refers to the sour taste of pot-stewed vegetables after deterioration. The deterioration of marinated vegetables is due to various microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi touching food or entering brine. Under suitable conditions such as environment and temperature, they use nutrients in food to develop and reproduce to produce a large number of growth metabolites, which will produce a variety of flavors.
Spices used in brine are mostly used to give brine flavor and aroma, forming a unique flavor. As for whether spices can prevent brine from deteriorating, many brine people have also had great differences. Mu Zi has been making brine in recent years, and used a lot of spices, so we have more understanding and research on the application of spices. The following article mainly talks about two aspects: first, spices do have antibacterial effect, and second, the antibacterial effect of spices in braised dishes is not too obvious.
Spices do have antibacterial effects. Speaking of spices, they have antibacterial effect. In fact, they have been known for thousands of years. For example, the ancient Egyptians used cinnamon and thyme to make mummies. In ancient Greece, it was long known that coriander seeds were used to preserve meat products. In Shang Dynasty in China, it was also found that spices can make food "not rot for a long time", including many people using modern means to study the antibacterial properties of spices.
The antibacterial activities of ethanol extracts from clove, cinnamon, geranium, thyme and cardamom 14 spices at different pH values were studied.
Clove: The minimum inhibitory concentration of clove is the smallest, followed by cinnamon and oregano (the lower the concentration, the better the antiseptic effect). Escherichia coli is resistant to these spices, among which Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus have the worst resistance.
Cardamom spice: It can inhibit both gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria, so it is useful to use spices in stuffing meat products (such as making sausages).
Botox, which we often mention, belongs to Gram-positive Bacillus, which is the most heat-resistant strain. In the research results, nutmeg coat has the best inhibitory effect on the strain, followed by nutmeg, geranium, black pepper and white pepper. The experiment here is to add the extract of nutmeg coat to sausage. At the same temperature of 25℃, the mucus formation of spice extract is better than that of ordinary sausage, and the lower the temperature, the better the effect.
Horseradish: Usually, when eating sashimi or seafood, many people like to dip in horseradish to improve the taste. In fact, antibacterial experiments show that horseradish has a strong inhibitory effect on the reproduction of Escherichia coli.
Garlic: Garlic is a common condiment in our cooking. In fact, it also has a strong antibacterial effect. The experiment showed that when the garlic juice was diluted to 750 times, the growth of Escherichia coli was not found. Dilute it to more than 15000 times to see its growth.
Cinnamon: Westerners like to add cinnamon powder to bread to add flavor. The experimental results show that cinnamon can prevent bread from mildew. When the concentration of cinnamon is 0.04%, the concentration of Aspergillus flavus can be reduced to 22%, and when the concentration of cinnamon is 1%, the production of Aspergillus flavus can be completely inhibited, so cinnamon does have a certain mildew-proof effect.
Experiments on volatile components in spices show that:
Phenolic compounds have the best antibacterial effect on microorganisms, such as eugenol and thymol. Among the spices we use, clove and cinnamon contain the most eugenol.
Aldehydes also have certain antifungal activity. Aromatics containing aldehydes include cinnamon, fennel, citronella, lemon slices and perilla.
Capsaicin in pepper and gingerol and gingerol in ginger have certain inhibitory effects on mold and bacteria.
Finally, it is written that although spices have antibacterial effect, their function in brine is not too obvious, so I suggest that when making brine marinated dishes, we should not rely entirely on spices to prevent rancidity, and correct maintenance and preservation of brine marinated dishes in the later stage is the most effective method.