Cold Preservation and Processing
Cold Preservation and Processing
Cold Preservation and Processing
I. History
A. Freezing and refrigeration among the oldest methods to preserve food.
B. Mechanical ammonia refrigeration systems for food preservation
developed in 1875.
C. In 1920s, Clarence Birdseye pioneered work in the production of frozen
foods.
D. Mechanical refrigeration in transient makes world trade of perishable
food commodities possible.
II. Freezing versus refrigeration
A. Cool storage (refrigeration): Usually from about 16?C to about -2?C
(most commercial and household refrigerators between 4.5 to 7?C).
Most foods do not freeze until about –2°C or lower.
B. Good frozen storage requires –18°C or lower.
III. Refrigeration and cool storage
A. The “gentlest methods” of food preservation, but works well with
perishable foods for only a short time period.
At 0?C, the shelf-life of perishable foods is usually <2 weeks.
At 5.5?C (more realistic temp. for home refrigerators), the shelf-life
is often <1 week.
At 22?C (~room temp.) these foods may spoil in a day or less.
B. Ideally, refrigeration is continuous from harvest/slaughter until
consumer purchase.
Most metabolically active fruits & vegetables require refrigeration to
remove “field heat” and slow down metabolism.
C. Principle requirements for effectiveness of refrigerated storage
1. Low temperature
Refrigerated storage rooms require sufficient refrigeration
capacity and insulation to maintain temp. ±1?C.
# of doors and factors causing the generation of heat are
important.
Different fruits & vegetables generate different levels of heat.
2. Air circulation and humidity control
Air circulation required to move heat away from food surface.
Air too moist, surface condensation and mold growth are
possible; air too dry, and foods will dry out.
Each food has a characteristic optimal temperature and
relative humidity (RH) for storage; usually the best RH is
equivalent to the moisture content of the food itself.
Packaging can be used to lessen transfer of water into or out
of a food for prolonged storage periods.
3. Modification of gaseous atmospheres
Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage - modification of
storage or packaging atmosphere by vacuum, addition of
nitrogen or CO2, or any departure from composition of air.
Warehouses/truck trailers
Packages
Example: McIntosh apples are stored at 3?C, 87% RH and
an atmosphere of 3% oxygen & 3% CO2 for 1 month, then
5% CO2 (nitrogen makes up the balances). [On the other
hand, Delicious apples prefer storage at 0?C.]
Hypobaric storage - refrigerated storage under reduced
pressure and high RH (reduced pressure lowers oxygen
levels and high RH prevents product dehydration).
Such specialized storage conditions must be cost effective.
IV. Freezing and frozen storage
A. Freezing was a major factor in bringing convenience foods to the home
and restaurant; freezing offers maximal convenience and (if properly
done) minimal quality changes to the food.
B. Initial freezing point
1. Increasing the solute concentration of a solution lowers its
freezing point.
2. Thus different foods will freeze at different temperature and
different rates (heat transfer out of the food).
3. Food does not freeze uniformly (e.g., “water component” of food
freezes first and then the more concentrated solutions (higher and
higher in dissolved solids).
C. Changes during freezing
1. Concentration effects
For best quality, most foods must be solidly frozen,
otherwise may get:
lactose crystallization
broken fat emulsions
concentrated salts can denature proteins
2. Ice crystal damage
When water freezes slowly, large ice crystals form (and
small crystals coalesce to create larger ones) that cause
physical rupture and separation of cells in food tissue.
Large ice crystals can also destabilize emulsions.
D. Rate of freezing - fast freezing is required for high quality.
The smaller the size of the ice crystal, the better.
Fast freezing minimizes concentration effects by decreasing the
time concentrated solutes are in contact with food tissues.
Commercial freezers designed for rapid freezing; plate freezers and
liquid-nitrogen freezers are very efficient.
Home freezers usually have the slowest freezing rates.
E. Final temperature
1. The factors affecting the choice of final temperature of freezing
are
textural changes, enzymatic and nonenzymatic chemical reactions,
microbiological changes, and costs.
2. These factors dictates an internal temperature of -18?C (0?F) or
lower and kept there throughout transport and storage; costs
generally makes transport and storage temperatures below -30?C
impractical.
3. A temperature of -18?C is well below the lowest growth
temperature for pathogens (3.3?C) and spoilage organisms (-9.5?
C).
4. Some enzymes retain activity down to -73?C, but reaction rates
are extremely slow; -18?C usually works well although for fruits and
vegetables, blanching may be done to inactivate stubborn enzymes
prior to freezing.
5. Frozen fish not very stable; at temperatures of -9 to -7?C, quality
may be retained for only days or weeks (depending on the product).