Food Preservation

• Food preservation is the process of treating and

handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly
slow down spoilage to prevent food borne
illness and extend its shelf-life.
So, how does food preservation work?
• All of the food preservation processes work by
slowing down the activity and growth of disease
causing bacteria, or by killing the bacteria all
together. They also slow down or stop the
action of enzymes which can degrade the
quality of the food.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRESERVATION

• To destroy or inactivate enzymes.

• To destroy or inactivate micro-organisms.

• To prevent the re-entry of new microbes by sealing food.

• To maintain the nutritive value, colour, flavour, texture of the

food as far as possible.
Food processing methods that are used to preserve foods
include:
1. Natural and chemical preservation
2. Low temperature (Refrigeration and freezing)
3. High temperature (Canning , Pasteurizing, sterilization)
4. Irradiation
 Natural and chemical preservation

• In the category of natural food preservatives comes the salt, sugar,

alcohol, vinegar etc.
• These are the traditional preservatives in food that are also used at
home while making pickles, jams and juices etc.
• Also the freezing, boiling, smoking, salting are considered to be the
natural ways of preserving food.
• Coffee powder and soup are dehydrated and freeze-dried for
preservation.
• In this section the citrus food preservatives like citrus acid and ascorbic
acid work on enzymes and disrupt their metabolism leading to the
preservation.
• Sugar and salt are the earliest natural food preservatives that very
efficiently drops the growth of bacteria in food.
• To preserve meat and fish, salt is still used as a natural food
preservative.
Chemical Food Preservative
•Chemical food preservatives are also being used for quite some time now.
•They seem to be the best and the most effective for a longer shelf life and
are generally fool proof for the preservation purpose.
•Examples of chemical food preservatives are:
1.Benzoates (such as sodium benzoate, benzoic acid)
2.Nitrites (such as sodium nitrite)
3.Sulphites (such as sulphur dioxide)
4.Sorbates (such as sodium sorbate, potassium sorbate
•In this category of preservatives in food comes the vitamin C, BHA
(butylated hydroxyanisole), bacterial growth inhibitors like sodium nitrite,
sulfur dioxide and benzoic acid.
•Then there is ethanol that is a one of the chemical preservatives in food,
wine and food stored in brandy.
•Unlike natural food preservatives some of the chemical food preservatives
are harmful.
•Sulfur dioxide and nitrites are the examples. Sulfur dioxide causes
irritation in bronchial tubes and nitrites are carcinogenic.
Low temperature (Refrigeration and freezing)

Refrigeration:-
• Fruits  and  vegetables  are  perishable  commodities.  If  not  stored 
at  recommended  temperatures,  they  rot in  a  short  time  by 
chemical  reactions,  bacterial  attack,  or  water loss. 
• Refrigeration is the most popular forms of food preservation in use
today.
• In the case of refrigeration, the idea is to slow bacterial action to a
crawl so that it takes food much longer (perhaps a week or two,
rather than half a day) to spoil.
• Refrigeration is used on almost all foods: meats, fruits, vegetables,
beverages, etc.
• In general, refrigeration has no effect on a food's taste or texture.
• Refrigeration's minimal effects account for its wide popularity.
FREEZING
• Lowering the temperature of food so that microbes and enzymes are
inactivated.
• Moisture is changed to ice and microbes become inactive without
water.
• Packaging food maintains the colour, flavour and texture.
• Fast freezing (-25ºC) helps maintain nutritive value and texture of
food.
• If protein food is not wrapped properly the cold air will cause the
food to toughen, discolour and dry out. This is called freezer burn
High temperature (Canning , Pasteurizing, sterilization)
• Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents
are processed and sealed in an airtight container.
• Canning, method of preserving food from spoilage by storing it in
containers that are hermetically sealed and then sterilized by heat.
• The process was invented after prolonged research by
Nicolas Appert’s of France in 1809, in response to a call by his
government for a means of preserving food for army and navy use.
• Appert’s method consisted of tightly sealing food inside a bottle or
jar, heating it to a certain temperature, and maintaining the heat for a
certain period, after which the container was kept sealed until use.
• Canning provides a shelf life typically ranging from one to five years,
although under specific circumstances it can be much longer.
•  A freeze-dried canned product, such as canned dried lentils, could
last as long as 30 years in an edible state.
Pasteurizing
•Pasteurization is the process of heat processing a liquid or a food to
kill pathogenic bacteria to make the food safe to eat.
• The use of pasteurization to kill pathogenic bacteria has helped
reduce the transmission of diseases, such as typhoid fever,
tuberculosis, scarlet fever, polio, and dysentery.
•Pasteurization is a process in which certain packaged and non-
packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juice) are treated with mild
heat, usually less than 100 °C (212 °F), to eliminate pathogens and
extend shelf life.
• The process is intended to sterilize foods by destroying or
inactivating organisms that contribute to spoilage, including
vegetative bacteria but not bacterial spores.
•The process was named after the French scientist Louis Pasteur
whose research in the 1880s demonstrated that thermal processing
would inactivate unwanted microorganisms in wine. 
•Spoilage enzymes are also inactivated during pasteurization.

•Today, pasteurization is used widely in the dairy industry and

other food processing industries to achieve food preservation and food
safety.

•Most liquid products are heat treated in a continuous system where

heat can be applied using a plate heat exchanger and/or the direct or
indirect use of hot water and steam.

•Due to the mild heat, there are minor changes to the nutritional quality
and sensory characteristics of the treated foods.

•Pasteurization or high pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric

field(PEF) are non-thermal processes that are also used to pasteurize
foods
Sterilization
• The food sterilization methods are divided into two
categories:
1. sterilization by heating (thermal processing)
2. sterilization without heating (nonthermal processing).
• Thermal processing is widely practiced these days, in
spite of some problems such as that the process of
heating might reduce nutrition or deteriorate the
quality of foods, and that it is ineffective against
certain types of bacteria.
• Non thermal processing is considered an effective
method that does not cause any deterioration of
quality, in contrast with thermal processing.
•The principles involved in thermal sterilization of foods remain the
same whether attempting to sterilize products in containers or sterilize
products prior to filling in the final container (aseptic processing).
•Thus, it is necessary to know the thermal destruction rate for the
microorganisms of consequence in the food being processed.
•The procedures necessary for acquisition of such data are available. It is
important to use this information properly so that the appropriate time
and temperature for destruction of the organisms can be achieved.
•Sterilization procedures for products in containers usually require
longer times, since the heat transfer to the product is relatively slow.
•Sterilization prior to filling in the container, as accomplished in aseptic
processing, requires relatively short heating periods.
• This sterilization process is usually accomplished by heating the
product rapidly to 130–145 °C, holding for an appropriate time, then
rapidly cooling the product.
•The specific product will determine the actual combination of
temperature and time required for sterilization.
Irradiation
• Irradiation refers to the exposure of a substance to radiation from a variety
different sources. Radiation can be ionizing or non-ionizing, referring to either
purposeful versus natural sources of radiation, respectively. Some examples of 
ionizing radiation include electronics, visible and infrared light, microwaves,
and electromagnetic waves (e.g., radio waves, power, and electronic receivers).
Irradiation is used for several purposes, with food sterilization (using X-rays or
gamma rays) and medical imaging (using a radioactive dye for diagnostic
imaging) being some of the most popular applications of ionizing radiation.
Food irradiation does not involve contact with the product exposed to radiation,
and does not result in radioactive products.
• High: Dosage higher than 10 kGy. Meat products (e.g., poultry) is commonly
sterilized with a high dose of radiation.
• Medium: Dosage between 1 and 10 kGy. The purpose is generally to eliminate
micro-organisms from food products to prevent spoilage and the spread of
pests.
• Low: Dosage lower than 1 kGy. Low doses are typically used to delay
germination and ripening of plants.