Abstract:Pickled burdock was prepared from fresh burdock.The effects of different fermentation methods，such as natural dry fermentation，natural wet fermentation，pure breeding dry fermentation，and pure breeding wet fermentation，on physicochemical characteristics and microbiological quantity of pickled burdock were investigated，followed by sensory evaluation of the products.The results showed that compared with other fermentation methods，pure breeding wet fermentation was advantageous in shortening the fermentation time，and the nitrate content of products by pure breeding wet fermentation dropped to a stable value（0.53 mg/100 g）on the 10th day，while that by other fermentation methods dropped to the stable values on the 12th day.Besides，the stable values by other fermentation methods were higher than that by pure breeding wet fermentation.Compared with other fermentation methods，the number of lactic acid bacteria in pickled burdock by pure breeding wet fermentation was slightly higher，but there was no significant difference in the content of total sugar and reducing sugar，the number of Escherichia coli，and the pH value.The sensory score（92.43）and crispness（2 005.02 g）of pickled burdock by pure breeding wet fermentation were higher than those by other fermentation methods.The content of amino acid nitrogen in pickled burdock by natural wet fermentation and pure breeding wet fermentation was lower than that by natural dry fermentation and pure breeding dry fermentation.After comprehensive comparison of various indicators，pure breeding wet fermentation was the optimum fermentation method for pickled burdock.