Formulation and standardization of dill based gherkin pickles: a study on physico-chemical and sensory attributes

Pickles occupy an important place among the processed traditional foods in India. Pickling of vegetables with traditional herbs and spices has good scope for the trade development overseas as India is the second largest vegetable producer in the world. Different variants of gherkin (Curcumis anguria) pickles were developed using the traditional herb dill leaves (Anethum graveolens), dill flavour and spices available locally. The pickles were freshly packed in glass jars through aseptic packing technology by the use of vacuum sealing and pasteurization. The physico-chemical properties and sensory attributes of the freshly packed pickles (soon after pasteurization) in comparison with the pickles post completion of the osmosis process i.e. after 15 days of stabilization period were studied. The study showed that use of Dill alone or along with other spices in either fresh or dehydrated form, enhanced the flavour profile of gherkin pickles. All the variants were very well accepted among the panel in pre- and post-stabilization. Pickles were stabilized well after 15 days of storage. Sodium benzoate used as preservative in two pickle variants enhanced the shelf life without affecting the acceptance criteria/sensory parameters of the vacuum sealed pickles. Though this study focused only on gherkin pickles, dill leaves can be very well explored in other vegetable products that can be processed and stored for longer time