Ashley from Siler City North Carolina is interested in having the following question answered. She asked is pickled watermelon rind fermented? The answer is yes, it is fermented. Any time you can a fruit or vegetable that has soaked in a salt brine, you are encouraging bacteria to grow within the canned produce, which obviously is a normal pickling process. Good microorganisms will grow within the pickles, and then eat most of the spoilage sensitive portions of the produce. By eating the sugars within the pickled watermelon rind, the pickles will become sour over time. The whole concept behind pickling any fruit or vegetable, is to control the environment so that only good microorganisms are able to grow within the canned foods, while blocking any spoilage producing microorganisms from entering the jar. This is the same process that is used to create cheese, yogurt, wine, breads, and beer.
