Professional Documents
Culture Documents
preservation
Introduction
Food Preservation, processes involved in
protecting food against microbes and other
spoilage agents to permit its further5
consumption. The preserved food should retain
a palatable appearance, flavor, and texture, as
well as its original nutritional value.
Nicolas appert(1749-1891)
Principles of preservations
killing of micro-organisms.
Inhibition of microbial growth.
Removing micro-organisms.
Destroying enzyme.
Retardation of chemical changes
Conditions for the growth of micro-
organisms
Methods of the preservation and their side
effects
1.Heat treatment
2.Irradiation
3.Smoking
4.Drying and dehydration
5.Refrigeration
6.Freezing
7.Canning
8.Sugaring and Salting
9.Meat curing
10.Pickling in vinegar
11.Use of food additives
12.Filtration
1.Heat treatment
Principle
Food is heated up and cooked.
Kills the microorganisms and their spores
alters protein structures
destroys enzyme activity of microorganisms
Methods of heating
1.Blanching
2.sterilization
3.commercial sterilization
4.Pasteurization
Levels of pasteurization used to thermally process
milk include:
(1) Low Temperature Long Time (LTLT): 63° C (145°
F) for 30 min
(2) High Temperature Short Time (HTST): 72° C(161°
F) for 15 s (LTLT and HTST are equivalent
thermal processes)
(3) Ultra High Temperature (UHT): 138° C (280 ° F)
(or higher) for 2 s
• Advantage:
Inactivates autolysis enzymes.
Destroys microorganisms.
• Disadvantage:
High temperatures can diminish product
appearance,texture, and nutrient quality.
• Examples:
All forms of cooked food, milk sterilized by UHT
(ultra high temperature).
2.Irradiation
Principle
Exposing food to ionizing radiation is to
destroy enzymes and micro-organisms in food;
kill mould and destroy bacteria in fresh meats.
Irradiated foods are not radioactive
Type of radiation used for food preservation is
ionizing radiation.
Advantage:
less Nutritional losses
The chemical reactions associated with food
irradiation do, in fact, produce very small amounts
of new compounds called radiolysis products.
Disadvantage
If irradiated food becomes contaminated, new
pathogens have little competition and can multiply
more rapidly.
The energy used for irradiated food are:
1.Gamma rays
2.X-rays
3.Electrons
(Radura)
3. Smoking
Principle
The smoke is obtained by burning special
type of wood under low breeze/wind at about
93oC to 104oC.
Woods used for smoking are Alder, apple and
cherry, hickory, maple, mesquite, oak, pecan.
Smoking process
Disadvantage
smoked foods are carcinogenic.
Drying methods
Air
Oven
Microwave oven
Disadvantage
Time and work, including rehydrating of the food before
eating.
Advantage
Drying food loss only a little nutrition in the food.
Disadvantage:
food cannot be stored for long time.
6. Freezing
Principle
It converts water of the food to ice, so the
water is unavailable for metabolic reaction of the
microorganisms.
In freezing, food temperature is reduced to about
-17oC.
(Freezer).
Chemical changes during
freezing
•Examples:
Frozen meat, peas, vegetables, ice-cream
7. Canning
Principle
Preserving food by heating and sealing
in airtight containers
• Advantage
Canned food
8.Sugaring and Salting
Principle
Food is treated with strong salt solution or
strong sugar solution.
Disadvantage
The food may become very salty or very
sweet.
• Examples:
Bacon, salted fish
9.Meat curing
Principle
Meat is treated with salt or strong salt solution
containing NaNO3, KNO3 and which may
contain sugar and spices.
Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In
addition to drawing the water from the food, they
dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food
spoil.
Nitrite or nitrate are used for retarding rancidity,
curing-pink color, killing bacterial
Two curing methods
1. Wet (or brine) curing
2. Dry curing
Pork shoulder
10.Pickling in vinegar
Principle
Food is kept in vinegar since micro-
organisms can not grow well in low pH value
solutions.
Disadvantage
Vinegar is a temporary preservative, because
enzymes continue to act, softening and spoiling
the product.
Some kind of vinegar such as apple cider vinegar
will darken most vegetables and fruits.
Examples: Sauces, pickled onions and
cucumbers (no animal products)
11.Use of food additives
Principle
Food Additives, natural and synthetic compounds
added to food to supply nutrients, to enhance color,
flavor, or texture, and to prevent or delay spoilage.
Some additives can inactivates or kill micro-
organisms, retard chemical spoilage.
Types of additives
Natural additives
Artificial additives
Functions of food additives
Preserve food
Do not preserve food
• E-number
It is the reference number of food additives