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Always when I tried lactofermentation of fruits like pears, plums, or citrus fruits, they always turned bad. When letting them ferment less time, they were still not fermented at all or already gone bad. I tried up to 8% salt solution but they just turn bad and produce some form of alcohol. To be more specific, on top of the liquid appeared white blueish mold (possibly in some cases the white one that is not optimal but okay), but some parts of the fruits had some white mold on themselves, and they tasted repulsively like alcohol.

Can you ferment fruits at all, if yes how, what can I improve, what did you do?

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  • Can you be more specific about what you mean by "they just turned bad?" What did you observe?
    – moscafj
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 17:25
  • Now it's specified. Thanks
    – Sebastian
    Commented May 7, 2023 at 18:29
  • How are you storing them during fermentation? I saw Brad from Bon Appétit make fermented citrus fruit and he vaccuum sealed the salted fruit in a plastic bag. If you just leave them in a jar or similar, the air might be what's causing your problems.
    – andrewb
    Commented May 9, 2023 at 7:07
  • That's a good point. I had them in a maison jar with air locks. But surely, in the beginning there is aire. Maybe I will try to cover it with oil, so that it is anerobic. Plastic is no option, it poisons food
    – Sebastian
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 17:57

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In the book "the Noma guide to fermentation" they vacuum-seal everything in plastic bags, hence I thought to successfully ferment fruits, one has to create a vacuum. Therefore, I built vacuum-sealed fermentation jars, as I describe it as answer on this page: link to vacuum sealed fermentation jar

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  • A vacuum is not necessary for fermentation but it does help fermentation in other ways. 1. Preventing oxygen coming into contact with the ferment (which is part of why brines are used). 2. It provides an obvious indicator that fermentation is taking place, as the C02 released by the fermentation, causes the back to inflate. 3. You have to make sure that the salt / brine, and any resulting acidic juice, is in contact with the ferment. As it prevents spoilage. Again, this is another reason liquid brines are used.
    – Hollis Hurlbut
    Commented Nov 23 at 20:02

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