Question

Kimchi is traditional Korean food made by fermenting cabbage or other vegetables in a mixture of spices and salt. Kimchi originally developed as a method of preserving vegetables before the advent of modern refrigeration. Why does the use of a salt solution in Kimchi act as a preservative against bacterial decay?

A. Water passes out of the cabbage leaves into the salt solution, wilting the leaves.
B. Water passes out of the salt solution and into the bacteria, lysing the bacterial cells.
C. Water passes into the salt solution, dehydrating bacterial cells and making them harmless.
D. The salt solution used to preserve kimchi has a lower molality than that inside most bacteria.

Answer 1

C. Water passes into the salt solution, dehydrating bacterial cells and making them harmless.

Step-by-step explanation:

The salt solution is hypertonic to the bacterial cells and as such, water molecules will move from the bacterial cells into the salt solution, dehydrating the cells and rendering them harmless.

Option A is also true but it is irrelevant to the question asked. Option B and D are wrong.

The correct option is C.