06 Food Preservation
06 Food Preservation
06 Food Preservation
Food Preservation
PHR 510.3
Teacher’s identity
Dr. Md. Sohel Rana
Professor
Food preservation
• Food preservation usually involves preventing the growth of
bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), or any other micro-organisms
(although some methods work by introducing benign bacteria
or fungi to the food), as well as retarding the oxidation of fats
that cause rancidity.
• Food preservation can also include processes that inhibit
visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction
in apples after they are cut, which can occur during food
preparation.
Traditional Techniques for food preservation
• Drying: Drying is one of the most ancient food preservation
techniques, which reduces water concentration sufficiently to
prevent bacterial growth.
• Refrigeration: Refrigeration preserve foods by slowing down
the growth and reproduction of micro-organisms and the
action of enzymes that cause food to rot. The introduction of
commercial and domestic refrigerators allow foods such as
fresh fruit, salads, and dairy products to be stored safely for
longer periods, particularly during warm weather.
• Freezing: Freezing is also one of the most commonly used
processes commercially and domestically for preserving a very
wide range of food including prepared food stuffs that would
not have required freezing in their unprepared state.
• Salt: Salting draws moisture from the meat through a process
of osmosis. It was a main way of preservation in the medieval
times.
• Sugar: Sugar is used to preserve fruits, either in syrup with fruit
such as apples, peaches, apricots, plums or in crystallized form
where the preserved material is cooked in sugar to the point of
crystallization and the resultant product is then stored dry.
• Smoking: Smoking is used to lengthen the shelf-life of
perishable food items. This effect is achieved by exposing the
food to smoke from burning plant materials such as wood.
• Pickling: Pickling is a method of preserving food in an edible
anti-microbial liquid. Pickling can be broadly categorized into
two categories: chemical pickling and fermentation pickling.
-In chemical pickling, the food is placed in an edible liquid that
inhibits or kills bacteria and other micro-organisms. Typical
pickling agents include vinegar, alcohol, and vegetable oil,
especially olive oil.
-In fermentation pickling, the food itself produces the preservation
agent, typically by a process that produces lactic acid.
• Jellying: Food may be preserved by cooking in a material
that solidifies to form a gel. Such materials include gelatine,
agar, maize flour, and arrowroot flour.
• Fermentation: Some foods such as many cheeses, wines,
and beers will keep for a long time because their
production uses specific micro-organisms that combat
spoilage from other less-benign organisms.
Modern Techniques for food preservation
• Pasteurization: Pasteurization is a process for preservation of
liquid food. The process is mainly applied to dairy products. In
this method, milk is heated at about 70°C for 15 to 30 seconds to
kill the bacteria present in it and cooling it quickly to 10°C to
prevent the remaining bacteria from growing. The milk is then
stored in sterilized bottles in cold places.
• Vacuum packing: Vacuum-packing stores food in a vacuum
environment, usually in an air-tight bag or bottle. The vacuum
environment strips bacteria of oxygen needed for survival,
slowing spoiling. Vacuum-packing is commonly used for storing
nuts to reduce loss of flavor from oxidation.
• Artificial food additives: Preservative food additives can be-
antimicrobial, which inhibit the growth of bacteria or fungi,
including mold, or
antioxidant; such as oxygen absorbers, which inhibit the
oxidation of food constituents.