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BJM CARMEL ACADEMY

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

CHEMISTRY PROJECT

2019-2020

A PROJECT ON

“FOOD PRESERVATIVES”

SUBMITTED BY: - NAMRATA SARKAR

GUIDED BY: - MRS. SUMITA SHARMA MAM

CLASS: - XII

ROLL NO:
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BJM CARMEL ACADEMY

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, CHANDRAPUR

2019-2020

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this a complete project report on chemistry titled

“Food preservatives”, submitted by Namrata Sarkar in partial fulfillment of
requirement for XII standard of Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE), New Delhi which is a record of work carried out by them under my
guidance for the session 2019-2020.

Subject Teacher sign Principal sign

Date: Roll No
External sign Stamp
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BJM CARMEL ACADEMY

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, CHANDRAPUR

2019-2020
DECLARATION

To,
The Principal,
BJM Carmel Academy,
Chandrapur.

Respected Principal,

I Miss,Namrata Sarkar hereby declare that I am submitting the project report entitled
“Food Preservatives”. This project is accomplished under the guidance of our
chemistry teacher
Mrs. Sumita Sharma Mam. I would like to thank her for all the lectures, for giving us a
bright opportunity and for inspiring us to complete our project. I sincerely declare that
the project made by me has been carried out on my own initiative and has not been
duplicated or copied from any other source.

Thanking you
NAMRATA SARKAR
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project is an acknowledgement to the intensity drive and
competence of the individuals who have contributed to it.
The project “Food Preservatives” is an effect of team work. It
involves the co-ordination of many people around me. The
project was a challenging task for me.
The expert guidance of our chemistry teacher Mrs. Sumita
Sharma changed the complexity of our project into a perfect
and smooth result. We also give special thanks to her for her
suggestions and inspirational personality.
I am thankful to our principal Rev. Fr. Binoy Chekonthayil, for
enlightening us and for providing us the lab facility for the
accomplishment of the project.
At last but not the least we are thankful to all our group members
for their direct as well as indirect help in completing this project
successfully.

Namrata Sarkar
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Index
 Introduction
 History of food preservatives
 Indian scenario of food processing
 Classification of Food Preservatives
 Harmful effects of food preservatives
 Sodium Benzoate
 Citric Acid
 Experiment
Conclusion
Result
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Introduction
Other than shelter and clothing, food is the basic requirement of human beings to be
alive. Food is very necessary to keep our body working, to satisfy hunger and to get
energy to do all the activities.

Food is made and kept in specific conditions and climate by adding many chemicals
to it. We see that some fruits, vegetables come in specific season, like mango comes
in summer whereas custard apple comes in winter. If they are not kept in proper
conditions chances of getting spoiled increases. For example, if we keep bread out of
refrigerator, after few days, we see that it turns brownish black and smells very bad.
When we keep any cooked vegetable outside refrigerator for long time, it gets
spoiled.

 What are the reasons for all these?

This is mainly due to presence of bacteria, microorganism, insect, and enzymes etc.,
which get environment (food, oxygen, moisture and suitable pH) to grow rapidly when
food is not kept under the specified required condition. Other reactions also may
occur which cause food spoiling. It accounts to the cost of food and health problem.

As population is growing very fast, demand of food is rising. We want food to be of

good quality and stay for long time. So to decrease the growth of microorganism,
increase the shelf life of food, making it available anytime anywhere with the same
texture, color, smell, food are preserve either by processing called food preservation
or by adding chemical called food preservatives.

Many food preservation processes are there to preserve food and increase shelf life,
these are: dehydration, salting, pickling, fermentation, drying, freezing, refrigeration,
vacuum packing, jellying etc.
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History of food preservatives:

Before chemical preservatives came into picture, foods was kept in the container
having water so that the food remain cool and this work as refrigeration. Some food
was placed in clay jars to keep them away from air and moisture and hence prevent
from spoiling. Salt was also a famous preservative that time as it has desiccating
effect, which draws water out of the food. Modern method involves many other
processes and man-made chemical for preservation of food for long time. All these
methods decrease the cost of the food and increase their shelf life to a great extent.

Indian Scenario of Food Processing

India is the world’s second largest producer of food next to China. Indian Food
Processing industry is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and
expected growth. The processed food market accounts for 32% of the total food
market. According to the India Food Report 2008 prepared by leading markets data
provider Research and Markets, the Indian food industry was estimated at over $182
billion, accounting for about two-thirds of the country's total retail sector.
The turnover of the total food market is approximately Rs.250,000 crores out of which
value-added food products comprise Rs.80,000 crores. The Indian food processing
industry is primarily export orient. India's geographical situation gives it the unique
advantage of connectivity to Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Singapore, Thailand,
Malaysia and Korea.
As the population is growing, food industry in India is rising and the
investment in the food industry is getting more and projected to grow by
US$ 100 billion to US$ 300 billion by 2015. Another reason for preservation is
long gap between production and actual consumption of food products.
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Classification of food preservatives:

Class-I preservatives (Natural Class-II preservatives (Artificial

Preservatives) Preservatives)
Naturally occurring substances, Man-made chemical substance
generally used in kitchen.

No restriction or limitation on use as Used in limited quantity

naturally occurring.

No need to be cautious in using Risk in use as they are chemicals

them, so better to choose product
containing these types of
preservatives.

Salt, Sugar, Vinegar, Alcohol Benzoic acid, sulfite, sorbate

Table 1. Classification of Preservatives

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Fig. 1. Diagrammatic representation of usages of preservatives

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Classification Of Artificial preservatives

Preservatives Antimicrobial Antioxidant Chelating

Preserve food by inhibiting

atmospheric oxidation and Prevents the natural ripening

prevent it from breakdown and process & oxidative

Preserve food by preventing becoming rancid. Mainly used deterioration of food by

the growth of microorganism with the products that contains inhibiting the bacteria;

such as fungi, bacteria, unsaturated fatty acids, oils and parasite, fungi etc. prevent

Definition molds, yeasts lipids food from becoming brown.

In mechanism, free radical Same as antioxidants. They

Reduces moisture content initiates peroxide formation at are mixed with anti oxidants

and increases acidity which double bonds of fatty acid. The to improve their

creates the bad environment chain reaction propagates to functionality by complexing

for the growth of other double bonds, and the metal ions that often

microorganism. They retain aldehyde, ketone, and acid- initiate free radical

the quality of food like color, termination products thus create formation and prevent metal

Mechanism smell, texture, nutrients etc. the rancid off-flavors. from oxidation

Banzoate (soft drinks, fruit Butylated hydroxyanisole,

juices, beverages, baked BHA (butter, lard, meats, beer,

food), Sorbate (dairy baked goods, snacks, potato

product, fermented chips, nut products, dry mix for Citric acid (foods,

vegetables, confection, beverages), butylated beverages, dairy products,

smoked meat and fish, hydroxytoluene, BHT (fats, pharmaceuticals), EDTA

beverages), Propionate oils), Sulfites (beer, wines, dried (food processing),

(cheese and baked food), foods), Vitamin E (fruits and Polyphosphates (fresh-

Examples Nitrites (meat product) vegetables). peeled fruits and vegetables)

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Choice of preservatives depends on many factor, like food product that

has to be preserved, climate and conditions, types of spoilage organism
endemic to it, period of shelf life, ease of applications, time lag between
production and consumption of food product, cost etc. No single
preservatives satisfy all the conditions, so combination of many
preservatives is used.

Harmful effects of food preservatives:

Taking large quantity of preservative is also harmful leading to health

problem.

People who are sensitive to small amount of particular preservative

should not the same.

Research published in the "Journal of the Egyptian Public Health

Association" in 2001 discovered that intake of foods preserved with
sodium benzoate and sodium nitrite among pregnant rats is
associated with a higher death rate in offspring. The results suggest
that pregnant women should need caution or avoid the
consumption of foods containing these preservatives.

Preservatives such as EDTA and Nitrites increase the risk of cancer.

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Sulfite preservatives may cause asthma symptoms. Nowadays FDA

prohibited the use of sulfites preservatives as it causes respiratory
diseases.

According to a 2007 study published in the journal "Lancet." Use of

sodium benzoate causes hyperactivity in children’s.

A number of food preservatives are banned because of severe

health problems associated with them.

Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible neurological disease that causes

cognitive deterioration and metabolic diseases is caused due to
excess consumption of preservatives.

Sodium Benzoate – Antimicrobial

a) Nitrates and Nitrites: For curing of meat products these additives are used. But
sometimes it reacts to cause urticarial, itching and anaphylaxis in human beings.
Sodium Nitrite is used in meat product during cooking to prevent botulism, but during
high heat it reacts with the proteins to produce carcinogenic N-nitrosamines which
are linked to different forms of cancers such as liver cancer, intestinal cancer and
esophageal cancer

b) Benzoates: Benzoate contained foods are strictly abandoned for asthma patients
because it worsening the condition. Benzoates are also reported to cause rhinitis,
chronic urticarial and flushing in some cases. Sodium benzoate which issued to
enhance the self-life for a long time is found to form carcinogenic benzene while use
with vitamin C or ascorbic acid. Though the amount of benzene form is low but it is a
risk factor to cause cancer. Itis also reported that benzoates can cause brain
damage
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c) Sorbates: Sorbates can cause urticarial and contact dermatitis in some cases.

d) Sulphates: Copper sulphate is generally used in coloring of peas and other

Vegetables. It is found that the copper, when added to the vegetables, forms a
compound which is not easily soluble in the human body.

Citric Acid -Flavor ingredient (chelating

agent), pesticide and fungicide
Citric acid is used mainly in food industry as preservatives, in jam, jellies and candy to
suppress the inversion of sucrose and adjust the pH, In salads and meat to prevent
enzymatic browning, in frozen food, fats and oils as chelating agent to inhibit metal-
catalyzed oxidation, in confections and desserts to enhance flavor and optimize gel-
setting characteristic, in dairy products to decrease the viscosity of the mix to make it
easy to whip.

Citric acid forms complex with many multivalent ions to form chelate as it has ligancy
more than one. So, it control metal contamination and prevent metal to undergo any
reactions. It does not affect color, stability, and texture of food product.

Consumption in world market-

International India
Food, beverages &
confectionery
70% 40%

Pharmaceuticals
12% 55%

Industrial application
18% 5%

Table 5. Consumption of Citric Acid

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Conclusion
Food preservation presents an opportunity to move alternative food practices away
from an individualistic, consumer-oriented politics to a politics based upon
relationships to self, others, and the earth, enabling activists to connect more deeply
to the goals of food movements. Although there is certain risk in use of preservatives
but its importance and contributions to packaged food industry can’t be overlooked.
A lot of researches are needed to be done to find out the natural and harmless
preservatives like Nisin Peptide. The food manufacturer should give special attention
during their formulation for healthy preservatives as combination of different
preservatives has been known to improve not only the shelf life of the product but also
enhance the quality and health benefits.

Experiment
AIM
The aim of this project is to study the effect of
potassium bisulphite as food preservative.
i. At different temperatures.
ii. At different concentrations and
iii. For different intervals of time.
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Requirements
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Result
In conclusion, food preservation has been pivotal to our society since the beginning.
Preservation has come from simple processes such as salting, to more complex
preserving methods such as irradiation and chemical additives. Looking into the future,
High Pressure Preservation seems to be the next logical step. In an increasingly health-
conscious world, an uncontaminated, well preserved food source is the ultimate goal,
and hopefully the costs of production will decrease for all of us to enjoy HPP foods.

Bibliography
1. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Volume-3, 6, 12, 22
2. Sodium Nitrite from China and Germany, Investigation Nos. 701-TA-453 (Final)
and 731-TA-1136-1137 (Final)
3. http://www.livestrong.com/article/288335-the-most-common-food-
preservatives/
4. 03_Organic_acids_Mattanovich_1103.pdf
5. Livestrong website article number 467268
http://www.livestrong.com/article/467268-food-preservatives-disease/
6. Dsir government report on citric acid
http://www.dsir.gov.in/reports/techreps/tsr032.pdf
7. http://chemical.ihs.com/nl/Public/2010/1006/1006.html#a=
8. http://www.shreeadditives.com/htmlsite/5a.htm
9. http://www.ihs.com/products/chemical/planning/ceh/benzoic-acid.aspx
10. New Perspectives for Citric Acid Production and Application, Carlos R. Soccol,
Luciana P. S. Vandenberghe, Cristine Rodrigues, and Ashok Pandey, Bioprocess
Engineering and Biotechnology Division, Department of Chemical Engineering,
Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba-PR, Brazil, and Ashok Pandey,
Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory, CSIR, Trivandrum 695 019,
India
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