Mondo Knows Facts

Salt and anaerobic bacteria ferment cabbage into sauerkraut

Submerging shredded cabbage in natural brine prevents mold while producing tart acid

Sauerkraut is produced through anaerobic lactic acid fermentation of shredded cabbage salted at roughly two percent by weight. Salt draws out plant juice to form a submersion brine that excludes oxygen. Sequential populations of leuconostoc and lactobacillus bacteria consume natural sugars, producing lactic acid that acts as a natural preservative.

Where this comes from

Food and Agriculture Organization

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

More facts like this

Tags: sauerkraut, fermentation, preservation

Salt and anaerobic bacteria ferment cabbage into sauerkraut: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
Submerging shredded cabbage in natural brine prevents mold while producing tart acid. The figure is taken from Food and Agriculture Organization, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a food fact?
Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.