Is it possible to let garlic flowers ferment naturally, without the addition of any bacterial culture?

In the course of our research, we have observed that natural fermentation, i.e. fermentation with only those micro-organisms naturally present on fresh garlic flowers, is possible but risky. Inoculating the garlic flowers with our starter culture makes it possible to decrease the pH to a safe level in less than 24 hours, which is not the case with natural fermentation. Our process therefore ensures the rapid destruction of harmful micro-organisms.

In addition, when garlic flowers are allowed to ferment with only naturally-occurring micro-organisms, there will be wide fluctuations in taste and/or conservation since there is no way to tell which bacteria or yeast will prevail over the others. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency authorizes the sale of our product specifically because it uses a controlled fermentation process.