The Impact of Total Replacement of Sodium Chloride with Potassium and Magnesium Chloride on Pickling of Granny Smith Apples

This study investigated the effect of total substitution of NaCl with KCl and MgCl2 on the physicochemical, microbiological, and textural characteristics of pickled apples during 35 days of fermentation. The results showed that the pH for all brine-pickled apples decreased significantly (p < 0.05) during the fermentation process. The highest quantity (1077.59 ± 17.56 mg lactic acid/100 g product) of lactic acid was detected on the 28th day for the samples fermented with NaCl. The concentration of metallic ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+) in the brine-pickled apple samples showed a peak on the 14th day of fermentation, followed by a decrease on the 21st day. The antioxidant activity for all types of saline solutions increased as fermentation progressed. The total LAB count increased rapidly until the seventh day for all the samples. At the end of the storage period, a decrease in LAB count was observed for all tested samples. The obtained results revealed that replacing NaCl with KCl or MgCl2 led to small changes in the characteristics of the pickled apples, and is thus a promising option for dietary sodium reduction.