# Citric Acid and Fermentation (non wine)



## gamble (Jul 12, 2017)

I had been making Kimchi with Costco bought bulk garlic. Had issues with it not being right by my taste. Stopped and went back to fresh garlic and back to goodness. Checking the label of the Costco Garlic the only listed ingredient was Citric Acid. Could Citric acid limit fermentation? (BTW Costco Bulk garlic is great for cooking)


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## mikewatkins727 (Jul 13, 2017)

Doubt it. We add acid blend to our musts to correct TA, the acid blend is a mix of tartaric, malic and citric acids.


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## sour_grapes (Jul 13, 2017)

Well, kimchi fermentation is done by lactic acid bacteria, not wine yeasts, so we have to consider what condition _those_ buggies like. In fact, lactobacilli do not grow well at low _p_H. I do not know, of course, how acidic your mixture got from adding that garlic, but that could indeed be the problem.


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## gamble (Jul 13, 2017)

Excellent, Thanks for Info


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