Food preservation is the process of preventing the decay and spoilage of produced fresh foods and storing it under prescribed conditions for future use. By preserving food using the different methods, their shelf life thus their availability is increased, reducing the waste of food. Another reasons for food processing and preservation are to produce value-added products, and provide variation in diet. Food preservation is an action or a method of maintaining foods at a desired level of properties or nature for their maximum benefits. In general, each step of handling, processing, storage, and distribution affects the characteristics of food, which may be desirable or undesirable. A number of preservation techniques are being developed to satisfy current demands of economic preservation and consumer satisfaction in nutritional and sensory aspects.
Food preservation includes food processing practices which prevent the different factors leading to the food spoilage like growth of negatives microorganisms, oxidation of fats that cause rancidity, the breakdown of protein production of harmful compounds and negative odours…. Food preservation also include processes that inhibit visual deterioration, such as the enzymatic browning reaction.
Preservation methods start with the complete analysis and understanding of the whole food chain, including growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and distribution; thus, an integrated approach needs to be applied.
Different food preservation methods have been developed using different principles and equipment's. Base on the temperature, processing and preservation methods can be grouped into 3 categories: low, normal and high temperature processing methods. The present course will focus on the methods using heat (positive and negative heat) for food preservation.