Food Preservation

Chapter 27

Food Spoilage
Biological Changes

• Fermentation: The conversion of

carbohydrates to carbon dioxide
and alcohol by yeast or bacteria.

Food Spoilage
Chemical Changes

• Enzymes play a significant role in

catalyzing these reactions
– Proteases, also called
proteolytic enzymes, split
proteins into smaller
compounds.

1
Food Spoilage
Physical Changes

The most common physical changes

occurring in foods as they spoil are
evaporation, drip loss, and separation.

• Dehydrate: To remove at least 95% of

the water from foods by the use of high
temperatures.

• Freeze-dry: To remove water from food

when it is in a frozen state, usually
under a vacuum.

Food Preservation Methods

• Drying is the food
preservation
process that
consists of
removing the
food’s water,
which effectively
inhibits the
growth of
microorganisms.
Like:
– Sun Drying

Food Preservation Methods

Commercial Drying
• The most important types of
commercial drying are:
– Conventional: heat.
– Vacuum: pulls the water out.
– Osmotic: water drawn out by
osmosis.
– Freeze-drying: ice crystals
vaporize.

2
Food Preservation Methods

Sublimation: The process in which a

solid changes directly to a vapor
without passing through the liquid
phase.

Food Preservation Methods

• Cure: To preserve food through the use
of salt and drying. Sugar, spices, or
nitrates may also be added.

• Fermentation
• Pickling uses vinegar to preserve foods.
• Edible coating: Thin layer of edible
material such as natural wax, oil,
petroleum-based wax, etc. that serves as
a barrier to gas and moisture.

Food Preservation Methods

• Carbohydrates
are required for
the fermentation
process.
• Throughout Asia,
vegetables are
still commonly
fermented.
• In North America,
foods most often
preserved by
fermentation are
cucumbers,
olives, and
cabbage.

3
Food Preservation Methods
The purpose of edible coatings is fourfold:
1. To increase shelf life by acting as a barrier to
moisture, oxygen, carbon dioxide, volatile
aromas, and other compounds whose loss
would lead to deterioration.
2. To impart improved handling characteristics,
such as the ability to bend more easily
without breaking.
3. To improve appearance through increased
gloss and color.
4. To serve as a vehicle for added ingredients
such as flavors, antioxidants, antimicrobials,
etc.

Food Preservation Methods

• Canning is a two-step process:
– First the food is prepared by being packed
into containers, which are then sealed.
– Then the containers are “canned,” or
heated to ensure that all microorganisms
are destroyed.
• Sterilization: The elimination of all
microorganisms through extended
boiling/heating to temperatures much higher
than boiling or through the use of certain
chemicals.

Cold Preservation

• Refrigeration slows down the

biological, chemical, and physical
reactions that shorten the shelf
life of food.

• All perishable foods should be

refrigerated as soon as possible,
preferably during transport, to
prevent bacteria from multiplying.

4
Cold Preservation

• Freezing makes water unavailable to

microorganisms.

• The chemical and physical reactions

leading to deterioration are slowed by
freezing.

• Freezer burn: White or grayish patches

on frozen food caused by water
evaporating into the package’s air
spaces.

Heat Preservation
• Pasteurization: A
food preservation
process that heats
liquids to 160°for 15
seconds, or 143°F
for 30 minutes, in
order to kill bacteria,
yeasts, and molds.
• Ohmic heating: A
food reservation
process in which an
electrical current is
passed through
food, generating
enough heat to
destroy
microorganisms.

Other Preservation Methods

Irradiation: A food preservation process in

which foods are treated with low doses of
gamma rays, x-rays, or electrons.

5
Symbol for Irradiated Foods
(Green) Radura

Other Preservation Methods

How is irradation is used:
• Sterilization of medical equipment
(instruments, surgical gloves, alcohol wipes,
sutures, etc.)
• Sterilization of consumer products (adhesive
bandages, contact lens cleaning solutions,
cosmetics, etc.)
• Foods for immune-compromised hospital
patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer, or transplant
patients)
• Some foods for astronauts, who cannot risk
foodborne illness
• Spices and seasonings used in products such
as sausage and certain baked goods

Other Preservation Methods

Pulsed Light exposes the food to intense, very brief

flashes of light, which disrupt the cell membranes of
bacterial cells, but not that of the surrounding food.

6
Other Preservation Methods
• High-pressure processing of foods
inactivates foodborne
microorganisms at low
temperatures without the use of
chemical preservatives.
• Pascalization: A food preservation
process utilizing ultrahigh
pressures to inhibit the chemical
processes of food deterioration.

Other Preservation Methods

Ozonation
• Ozone (an oxidizing
agent) is
commercially
produced by
exposing oxygen to
an electrical current.
• Ozone is an
effective
disinfectant and
sanitizer for many
food products.

Other Preservation Methods

Aseptic and
modified-
atmosphere
packaging (MAP)
– Hermetically
sealed: Foods
that have been
packaged
airtight by a
commercial
sealing process.