My little sister thinks that pickles are terrible. However, many other people, including me, love pickles. I feel that burgers without pickles lack some flavor.In my microbiology lab, we actually made pickles using lactic acid bacteria (LABs).
We found that LABs inhibit the growth of other microorganisms because they produce acid by-products. The lowered pH of the environment is too harsh for the sustenance of other microbial life. This demonstrates that LABs work by competitive exclusion. In the pickle jar containing LABs, the only colony isolated was a small, white round colony grown on a PCA agar plate.
A few brave souls decided to try the pickles that we made. Funny for us, but not so funny for them. Since we didn't add any agents to maintain freshness, the pickles weren't quite as crunchy as one would like.
