# Insights into Native Fermentation Process of Apples (_Malus domestica_) in Low Sodium Conditions
## 3 Results
### Color Analysis

Table 4: Values of textural parameters during fermentation. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Parameter**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Fermentation Intervals, Days**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **0** & **7** & **14** & **21** & **28** & **35** \\ \hline \multicolumn{7}{c}{**NaCl**} \\ \hline \(L^{*}\) & 69.19 \(\pm\) 0.77 \({}^{\rm D}\) & 74.00 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 72.82 \(\pm\) 0.84 \({}^{\rm A,B}\) & 72.26 \(\pm\) 0.53 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 70.98 \(\pm\) 0.58 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 69.09 \(\pm\) 0.77 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(a^{*}\) & 6.05 \(\pm\) 0.57 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 3.92 \(\pm\) 0.39 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 2.65 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\rm C}\) & 2.59 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 2.48 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm D}\) & 2.35 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(b^{*}\) & 30.51 \(\pm\) 0.18 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 26.79 \(\pm\) 0.52 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 26.24 \(\pm\) 0.40 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 25.61 \(\pm\) 0.45 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 24.08 \(\pm\) 0.86 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 22.32 \(\pm\) 0.87 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(C^{*}\) & 31.11 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 27.07 \(\pm\) 0.56 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 26.37 \(\pm\) 0.41 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 25.74 \(\pm\) 0.46 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 24.21 \(\pm\) 0.87 \({}^{\rm D,E}\) & 22.45 \(\pm\) 0.87 \({}^{\rm E}\) \\ \hline \(h^{*}\) & 78.79 \(\pm\) 0.97 \({}^{\rm C}\) & 81.67 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 84.22 \(\pm\) 0.16 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 84.23 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 84.12 \(\pm\) 0.62 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 83.98 \(\pm\) 0.34 \({}^{\rm A}\) \\ \hline \(BI\) & 63.09 \(\pm\) 1.99 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 47.83 \(\pm\) 1.19 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 46.29 \(\pm\) 1.36 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 45.36 \(\pm\) 1.41 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 43.12 \(\pm\) 1.30 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 40.69 \(\pm\) 2.17 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(WI\) & 56.21 \(\pm\) 0.75 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 62.46 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 62.12 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 62.16 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 62.21 \(\pm\) 0.76 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 61.78 \(\pm\) 0.48 \({}^{\rm A}\) \\ \hline \(YI\) & 63.01 \(\pm\) 1.08 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 51.71 \(\pm\) 0.82 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 51.48 \(\pm\) 0.34 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 50.64 \(\pm\) 1.23 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 48.50 \(\pm\) 1.77 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 46.18 \(\pm\) 2.01 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{7}{c}{**KCI**} \\ \hline \(L^{*}\) & 69.19 \(\pm\) 0.77 \({}^{\rm D}\) & 72.19 \(\pm\) 0.77 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 71.89 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\rm A,B}\) & 70.99 \(\pm\) 0.87 \({}^{\rm B,C}\) & 69.34 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 67.20 \(\pm\) 1.09 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(a^{*}\) & 6.05 \(\pm\) 0.57 \({}^{\rm A}\) & 3.72 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\rm B}\) & 2.84 \(\pm\) 0.39 \({}^{\rm C}\) & 2.41 \(\pm\) 0.26 \({}^{\rm C,D}\) & 2.39 \(\pm\) 0.20 \({}^{\rm D}\) & 2.13 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\rm D}\) \\ \hline \(b  
The saturation of a color (C*) and yellowness index (YI) are especially used to determine the brightness and yellow degree of food [22]. As shown in Table 5, the values of C* and YI decreased for all brine-picked samples during fermentation. This aspect may be due to the presence of some enzymes (lipase, nitrite reductase), bacteriocins, and organic acids (secondary metabolites) produced by lactic acid bacteria, affecting the color characteristics of brine-picked apples. [PERSON] et al. [22] reported similar results for yellow pepper sauce (_Capsicum chinense_ Jacq.) fermented by _Lactobacillus plantarum_. The decrease in yellow color intensity (\(b^{\bullet}\)) of the samples caused the increase in whiteness index values in the case of all the fermented samples. To assess the strength and direction of the relationships between the physicochemical parameters monitored in the lactic fermented apple samples, Pearson correlation analysis was used (Table 6). During pickling, independent of the type of salt used for fermentation, strongly significant inverse correlations (\(p<0.05\)) were observed between the decrease in the carbohydrate profile and the accumulation of lactic acid (r = \(-0.842\div-0.960\)).