Kimchi

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What kimchi is

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Kimchi's sourness and its long keeping both come from lactic acid bacteria. Salt first holds back spoilage microbes while sparing salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria; those bacteria then turn the cabbage's sugars into lactic acid, and as the acidity rises, other microbes struggle to grow. The chapter on how kimchi ferments and sours follows that relay to the end.

The kimchi here is Korean kimchi: napa cabbage rubbed with chili powder, garlic, ginger and scallion, salted, then fermented by lactic acid bacteria. At heart it is not a salty pickle but a living microbial community, and it really is salty, with plenty of sodium.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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Kimchi

Read full story

Stop 1/7

What kimchi is

EVIDENCEGUIDE 1 · REVIEW 1

READ THE ORIGINAL

Kimchi's sourness and its long keeping both come from lactic acid bacteria. Salt first holds back spoilage microbes while sparing salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria; those bacteria then turn the cabbage's sugars into lactic acid, and as the acidity rises, other microbes struggle to grow. The chapter on how kimchi ferments and sours follows that relay to the end.

The kimchi here is Korean kimchi: napa cabbage rubbed with chili powder, garlic, ginger and scallion, salted, then fermented by lactic acid bacteria. At heart it is not a salty pickle but a living microbial community, and it really is salty, with plenty of sodium.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.