Abstract:

The effects of inoculation amount of lactic acid bacteria, fermentation temperature and time on the sensory quality, including apperance, color and taste in the final products, were studied by conducting single factor test. Subsequently, a L9(34) orthogonal test involving the above 3 factors at 3 levels were employed to optimize the fermentation process. Results showed that the optimum conditions were that cherry tomatoes were inoculated with 2% (106 CFU/ml) of lactic acid bacteria and fermented at 40 ℃ for 15 h. Then, the cherry tomatoes were cooked in water containing 0.3% CMC, 1.1% citric acid and 45% sugar for 30 min, followed by dipping in it for another 5 h, and dried at 55 ℃ for 24 h in a electric blastdrying oven.

Key words: cherry tomato, lactic acid fermentation, preserves