Bacteria in pickled cucumbers. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), grown on purpose in cucumbers immersed in a salty brine digest the sugars in the cucumbers and metabolize them into lactic acid. Thus they remove a potential food source for harmful bacteria. At the same time, lactic acid produces an acidic medium which functions as a preservative and controls spoilage bacteria. The high salt concentration used is tolerated by the lactic acid bacteria but prevents spoilage bacteria from propagating. The cucumbers thus treated are called "pickles" or "pickled cucumbers". Scanning electron microscopy was used to visualize the variety of bacteria involved in bacterial spoilage prevention called "pickling." Enhanced SEM. Image width: 15 micrometers. Magnification: 6,666x if the image is printed 100 mm wide.