Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow

down spoilage (loss of quality, edibility or nutritive value) caused or accelerated by

micro-organisms. Some methods, however, use benign bacteria, yeasts or fungi to add
specific qualities and to preserve food (e.g., cheese, wine). Maintaining or creating
nutritional value, texture and flavour is important in preserving its value as food. This is
culturally dependent, as what qualifies as food fit for humans in one culture may not
qualify in another culture.

Preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi, and other micro-
organisms, as well as retarding the oxidation of fats which cause rancidity. It also
includes processes to inhibit natural ageing and discolouration that can occur during
food preparation such as the enzymatic browning reaction in apples which causes
browning when apples are cut. Some preservation methods require the food to be sealed
after treatment to prevent recontamination with microbes; others, such as drying, allow
food to be stored without any special containment for long periods.

Common methods of applying these processes include drying, spray drying, freeze
drying, freezing,vacuum-packing, canning, preserving in syrup, sugar crystallisation,
food irradiation, and adding preservatives or inert gases such as carbon dioxide. Other
methods that not only help to preserve food, but also add flavour, include pickling,
salting, smoking, preserving in syrup or alcohol, sugar crystallisation and curing.

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Preservation processes

Preservation processes include:

• Heating to kill or denature micro-organisms (e.g. boiling)

• Oxidation (e.g. use of sulphur dioxide)
• Toxic inhibition (e.g. smoking, use of carbon dioxide, vinegar, alcohol etc)
• Dehydration (drying)
• Osmotic inhibition ( e.g. use of syrups)
• Low temperature inactivation (e.g. freezing)
• Ultra high water pressure (e.g. fresherized, a kind of “cold” pasteurization, the
pressure kills naturally occurring pathogens, which cause food deterioration and
affect food safety.)
• Many combinations of these methods
• Chelation

Drying

One of the oldest methods of food preservation is by drying, which reduces water
activity sufficiently to prevent or delay bacterial growth. Drying also
reduces weight, making food more portable. Most types of meat can be dried; a good
example is beef jerky. Many fruits can also be dried; for example, the process is often
applied to apples, pears, bananas, mangoes, papaya, apricot, and coconut. Zante currants,
sultanas and raisins are all forms of dried grapes. Drying is also the normal means of
preservation for cereal grains such as wheat, maize, oats, barley, rice, millet and rye.

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
which would not have required freezing in their unprepared state. For example, potato
waffles are stored in the freezer, but potatoes themselves require only a cool dark place

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to ensure many months' storage. Cold stores provide large volume, long-term storage for
strategic food stocks held in case of national emergency in many countries.

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.

Salt

Salting or curing draws moisture from the meat through a process of osmosis. Meat is
cured with salt or sugar, or a combination of the two. Nitrates and nitrites are also often
used to cure meat and contribute the characteristic pink color, as well as inhibition of
Clostridium botulinum.

Sugar

Sugar is used to preserve fruits, either in syrup with fruit such as apples, pears, peaches,
apricots, plums or in crystallized form where the preserved material is cooked in sugar
to the point of crystallisation and the resultant product is then stored dry. This method is
used for the skins of citrus fruit (candied peel), angelica and ginger. A modification of
this process produces glacé fruit such as glacé cherries where the fruit is preserved in
sugar but is then extracted from the syrup and sold, the preservation being maintained by
the sugar content of the fruit and the superficial coating of syrup. The use of sugar is
often combined with alcohol for preservation of luxury products such as fruit in brandy
or other spirits. These should not be confused with fruit flavored spirits such as cherry
brandy or Sloe gin.

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Pickling

Pickling is a method of preserving food in an edible anti-microbial liquid. Pickling can

be broadly categorized as chemical pickling (for example, brining) and fermentation
pickling (for example, making sauerkraut).

In chemical pickling, the food is placed in an edible liquid that inhibits or kills bacteria
and other micro-organisms. Typical pickling agents include brine (high in salt), vinegar,
alcohol, and vegetable oil, especially olive oil but also many other oils. Many chemical
pickling processes also involve heating or boiling so that the food being preserved
becomes saturated with the pickling agent. Common chemically pickled foods include
cucumbers, peppers, corned beef, herring, and eggs, as well mixed vegetables such as
piccalilli, chow-chow, giardiniera, and achar.

In fermentation pickling, the food itself produces the preservation agent, typically by a
process that produces lactic acid. Fermented pickles include sauerkraut, nukazuke,
kimchi, surströmming, and curtido. Some chemically pickled cucumbers are also
fermented.

In commercial pickles, a preservative like sodium benzoate or EDTA may also be added
to enhance shelf life.

Lye

Sodium hydroxide (lye) makes food too alkaline for bacterial growth. Lye will saponify
fats in the food, which will change its flavor and texture. Lutefisk uses lye in its
preparation, as do some olive recipes. Modern recipes for century eggs also call for lye.
Masa harina and hominy use lye in their preparation, but not for preservation.

Canning and bottling

Canning involves cooking food, sealing it in sterile cans or jars, and boiling the
containers to kill or weaken any remaining bacteria as a form of sterilization, inventor

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 [1]
Nicolas Appert . Various foods have varying degrees of natural protection against
spoilage and may require that the final step occur in a pressure cooker. High-acid fruits
like strawberries require no preservatives to can and only a short boiling cycle, whereas
marginal fruits such as tomatoes require longer boiling and addition of other acidic
elements. Low acid foods, such as vegetables and meats require pressure canning. Food
preserved by canning or bottling is at immediate risk of spoilage once the can or bottle
has been opened.

Lack of quality control in the canning process may allow ingress of water or micro-
organisms. Most such failures are rapidly detected as decomposition within the can
causes gas production and the can will swell or burst. However, there have been
examples of poor manufacture (underprocessing) and poor hygiene allowing
contamination of canned food by the obligate anaerobe Clostridium botulinum, which
produces an acute toxin within the food, leading to severe illness or death. This
organism produces no gas or obvious taste and remains undetected by taste or smell. Its
toxin is denatured by cooking, though. Cooked mushrooms, handled poorly and then
canned, can support the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, which produces a toxin that is
not destroyed by canning or subsequent reheating.

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. Some foods naturally
form a protein gel when cooked such as eels and elvers, and sipunculid worms which are
a delicacy in the town of Xiamen in Fujian province of the People's Republic of China.
Jellied eels are a delicacy in the East End of London where they are eaten with mashed
potatoes. Potted meats in aspic, (a gel made from gelatine and clarified meat broth) were
a common way of serving meat off-cuts in the UK until the 1950s. Many jugged meats
are also jellied.

Fruit preserved by jellying is known as jelly, marmalade, or fruit preserves. In this case,
the jellying agent is usually pectin, either added during cooking or arising naturally from

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the fruit. Most preserved fruit is also sugared in jars. Heating, packaging and acid and
sugar provide the preservation.

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Irradiation

Irradiation of food is the exposure of food to ionizing radiation; either high-energy

electrons or X-rays from accelerators, or by gamma rays (emitted from radioactive
sources as Cobalt-60 or Caesium-137). The treatment has a range of effects, including
killing bacteria, molds and insect pests, reducing the ripening and spoiling of fruits, and
at higher doses inducing sterility. The technology may be compared to pasteurization; it
is sometimes called 'cold pasteurization', as the product is not heated. Irradiation is not
effective against viruses or prions, it cannot eliminate toxins already formed by
microorganisms, and is only useful for food of high initial quality.

The radiation process is unrelated to nuclear energy, but it may use the radiation emitted
from radioactive nuclides produced in nuclear reactors. Ionizing radiation is hazardous
to life; for this reason irradiation facilities have a heavily shielded irradiation room
where the process takes place. Radiation safety procedures ensure that neither the
workers in such facility nor the environment receive any radiation dose from the facility.
Irradiated food does not become radioactive, and national and international expert
bodies have declared food irradiation as wholesome. However, the wholesomeness of
consuming such food is disputed by opponents[3] and consumer organizations.[4] National
and international expert bodies have declared food irradiation as 'wholesome'; UN-
organizations as WHO and FAO are endorsing to use food irradiation. International
legislation on whether food may be irradiated or not varies worldwide from no
regulation to full banning.[5]

Modified atmosphere

This is a way to preserve food by operating on the atmosphere around it. Salad crops
which are notoriously difficult to preserve are now being packaged in sealed bags with
an atmosphere modified to reduce the oxygen (O2) concentration and increase the carbon
dioxide (CO2) concentration. There is concern that although salad vegetables retain their
appearance and texture in such conditions, this method of preservation may not retain

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nutrients, especially vitamins. Grains may be preserved using carbon dioxide. A block of
dry ice is placed in the bottom and the can is filled with grain. The can is then "burped"
of excess gas. The carbon dioxide from the sublimation of the dry ice prevents insects,
mold, and oxidation from damaging the grain. Grain stored in this way can remain
edible for five years. - Nitrogen gas (N2) at concentrations of 98% or higher is also used
effectively to kill insects in grain through hypoxia. However, carbon dioxide has an
advantage in this respect as it kills organisms through both hypoxia and hypercarbia,
requiring concentrations of only 80%, or so. This makes carbon dioxide preferable for
fumigation in situations where an hermetic seal cannot be maintained.

Controlled use of micro-organism

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. These micro-organisms keep pathogens in check by creating an
environment toxic for themselves and other micro-organisms by producing acid or
alcohol. Starter micro-organisms, salt, hops, controlled (usually cool) temperatures,
controlled (usually low) levels of oxygen and/or other methods are used to create the
specific controlled conditions that will support the desirable organisms that produce
food fit for human consumption.