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EASTERN VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Burauen Campus
Burauen, Leyte

FSM 335

FOOD PROCESSING, PACKAGING AND LEARNING 1

PRESERVATION

 Food Preservation is the process of preparing food for future consumption by

preventing its spoilage.
 The basis for food preservation should be the prevention of its spoilage. Delay
in the use of fresh food alters its freshness, taste and its nutritive value.
Spoiled foods become unfit for human consumption. It is therefore very
important to maintain the sanitary quality of food.

1.1 Food preservation is important for the following reasons:

1. It contributes to better nutrition for the family by having a year-round supply

of fruits and other foods for balance diet.

2. It is a means of increasing family income because as the harvest is

abundant and the food supply is more than enough for the family, the excess can be
preserved and even sold in the market.

3. It helps the economic development of the country as the farmers are

encouraged to produce more for the family as well as for others.

4. Preserved foods may be served in the celebration of significant events like

town fiesta, Christmas and other special occasions.

5. Preserved foods are easily transportable food found only in one area could
be made available to other places including outside the country.

6. It is profitable hobby as it is also a means of livelihood for both local and

international market.

1.2 Methods of preservation

1.2.1 Traditional technique

 Curing - The earliest form of curing was dehydration or drying, used as early
as 12,000 BC. Smoking and salting techniques improve on the drying process
and add antimicrobial agents that aid in preservation. Smoke deposits a
number of pyrolysis products onto the food, including
[5]
the phenols syringol, guaiacol and catechol. Salt accelerates the drying
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process using osmosis and also inhibits the growth of several common strains
of bacteria. More recently nitrites have been used to cure meat, contributing a
characteristic pink colour.
 Cooling - Cooling preserves food by slowing down the growth and
reproduction of microorganisms and the action of enzymes that causes the
food to rot. The introduction of commercial and domestic refrigerators
drastically improved the diets of many in the Western world by allowing food
such as fresh fruit, salads and dairy products to be stored safely for longer
periods, particularly during warm weather.
 Freezing - is also one of the most commonly used processes, both
commercially and domestically, for preserving a very wide range of foods,
including prepared foods that would not have required freezing in their
unprepared state.
 Boiling – Boiling liquid food items can kill any existing microbes. Milk and
water are often boiled to kill any harmful microbes that may be present in
them.
 Heating – Heating to temperatures which are sufficient to kill microorganisms
inside the food is a method used with perpetual stews. Milk is also boiled
before storing to kill many microorganisms.
 Sugaring – "Sugar tends to draw water from the microbes (plasmolysis). This
process leaves the microbial cells dehydrated, thus killing them. In this way,
the food will remain safe from microbial spoilage.” Sugar is used to preserve
fruits, either in an antimicrobial syrup with fruit such
as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and plums, or in crystallized form where
the preserved material is cooked in sugar to the point of crystallization and the
resultant product is then stored dry. This method is used for the skins
of citrus fruit (candied peel), angelica, and ginger. Also, sugaring can be used
in the production of jam and jelly
 Pickling - Pickling is a method of preserving food in an edible, antimicrobial
liquid. Pickling can be broadly classified into two categories: chemical pickling
and fermentation pickling. In chemical pickling, the food is placed in an edible
liquid that inhibits or kills bacteria and other microorganisms. In fermentation
pickling, bacteria in the liquid produce organic acids as preservation agents,
typically by a process that produces lactic acid through the presence
of lactobacillales.
 Canning - Canning involves cooking food, sealing it in sterilized cans or jars,
and boiling the containers to kill or weaken any remaining bacteria as a form
of sterilization.
 Jellying - Food may be preserved by cooking in a material that solidifies to
form a gel. Besides jellying of meat and seafood, a widely known type of
Jellying is fruit preserves which are preparations of fruits, vegetables and
sugar, often stored in glass jam jars and Mason jars. The ingredients used
and how they are prepared determine the type of preserves; jams, jellies, and
marmalades are all examples of different styles of fruit preserves that vary
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based upon the fruit used. In English, the word, in plural form, "preserves" is
used to describe all types of jams and jellies.
 Burial - Burial of food can preserve it due to a variety of factors: lack of light,
lack of oxygen, cool temperatures, pH level, or desiccants in the soil. Burial
may be combined with other methods such as salting or fermentation. Most
foods can be preserved in soil that is very dry and salty (thus a desiccant)
such as sand, or soil that is frozen.
 Confit - Meat can be preserved by salting it, cooking it at or near 100 °C in
some kind of fat (such as lard or tallow), and then storing it immersed in the
fat.
 Fermentation - Methods of fermentation include, but are not limited to, starter
micro-organisms, salt, hops, controlled (usually cool) temperatures and
controlled (usually low) levels of oxygen. These methods are used to create
the specific controlled conditions that will support the desirable organisms that
produce food fit for human consumption. Fermentation is the microbial
conversion of starch and sugars into alcohol. Not only can fermentation
produce alcohol, but it can also be a valuable preservation technique.
Fermentation can also make foods more nutritious and palatable.

1.2.2 Modern Industrial technique

 Pasteurization - Pasteurization is a process for preservation of liquid food.

It was originally applied to combat the souring of young local wines.
 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. Vacuum-packing is commonly used for
storing nuts to reduce loss of flavor from oxidization. A major drawback to
vacuum packaging, at the consumer level, is that vacuum sealing can
deform contents and rob certain foods, such as cheese, of its flavor.
 Freeze Drying - also known as lyophilisation or cryodesiccation, is a low
temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product, lowering
pressure, then removing the ice by sublimation.[2] This is in contrast to
dehydration by most conventional methods that evaporate water using heat.
 Artificial Food additives - Preservative food additives can
be antimicrobial—which inhibit the growth of bacteria or fungi,
including mold—or antioxidant, such as oxygen absorbers, which inhibit
the oxidation of food constituents.
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Food additives

Food additives are substances added to food for preserving flavours, or improving
taste or appearance. The processes are as old as adding vinegar for pickling or as
an emulsifier for emulsion mixtures like mayonnaise.

 Food additives are added to foods in precise amounts during process. They
are technologically justified for:

1. Maintaining the nutritional quality of the food.

2. Enhancing the keeping quality or stability of food thereby reducing food

wastage.

3. Making food attractive to consumers in a manner which precludes

deception; and
4. Providing essential aids in food processing.

 Food additive are substance added to food to improve its:

1. Storage properties

2. Appearance

3. Flavor

4. Nutritional Value

Addtives improve the shelf life of processed foods. Natural additives come from
plants and animals while other additives are artificial using various chemicals.

 Common Types of Additives are:

1. Preservatives

2. Coloring

3. Flavoring

4. Nutrients

The FDA makes sure that food additives used by food manufacturers are safe
and approved for regulated use.
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 Classification/Categories of Food additives

Acidulents - Acidulants confer sour or acid taste. Common acidulents

include vinegar, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, and lactic acid.
Acidity regulators - Acidity regulators are used for controlling the pH of foods for
stability or to affect activity of enzymes.
Anticaking agents - Anticaking agents keep powders such as milk powder from
caking or sticking.
Antifoaming and foaming agents - Antifoaming agents reduce or prevent foaming
in foods. Foaming agents do the reverse.
Antioxidants - Antioxidants such as vitamin C are preservatives by inhibiting the
degradation of food by oxygen.
Bulking agents - Bulking agents such as starch are additives that increase the bulk
of a food without affecting its taste.
Food coloring - Colorings are added to food to replace colors lost during
preparation or to make food look more attractive.
Fortifying agents - Vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements to increase the
nutritional value
Color retention agents - In contrast to colorings, color retention agents are used to
preserve a food's existing color.
Emulsifiers - Emulsifiers allow water and oils to remain mixed together in
an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice cream, and homogenized milk.
Flavors - Flavors are additives that give food a particular taste or smell, and may be
derived from natural ingredients or created artificially.
Flavor enhancers - Flavor enhancers enhance a food's existing flavors. A popular
example is monosodium glutamate. Some flavor enhancers have their own flavors
that are independent of the food.
Flour treatment agents - Flour treatment agents are added to flour to improve its
color or its use in baking.
Glazing agents - Glazing agents provide a shiny appearance or protective coating
to foods.
Humectants - Humectants prevent foods from drying out.
Tracer gas - Tracer gas allow for package integrity testing to prevent foods from
being exposed to atmosphere, thus guaranteeing shelf life.
Preservatives - Preservatives prevent or inhibit spoilage of food due
to fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.
Stabilizers - Stabilizers, thickeners and gelling agents, like agar or pectin (used
in jam for example) give foods a firmer texture. While they are not true emulsifiers,
they help to stabilize emulsions.
Sweeteners - Sweeteners are added to foods for flavoring. Sweeteners other
than sugar are added to keep the food energy (calories) low, or because they have
beneficial effects regarding diabetes mellitus, tooth decay, or diarrhea.
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Thickeners - Thickening agents are substances which, when added to the mixture,
increase its viscosity without substantially modifying its other properties.
Packaging - Bisphenols, phthalates, and perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) are
indirect additives used in manufacturing or packaging. In July 2018 the American
Academy of Pediatrics called for more careful study of those three substances, along
with nitrates and food coloring, as they might harm children during development.

 Criteria for use

Before being considered for use in food, a chemical preservative needs to

fulfil the following conditions:

1. It must be non-toxic and suitable for application

2. It must not impart off-flavor when used at levels effective in controlling

microbial growth
3. It must be readily soluble.

4. It must exhibit antimicrobial properties over the PH range of each particular

food.

5. It should be economical and practical to use.

6. It must be safe at standard amount.

 Food additive commonly used

1. Binders and strengtheners: Aids in binding ingredients together to improve

the texture of baked products. All come from milk, soybeans or wheat.
2. Colors
3. Emulsifiers – added to foods to prevent separation of ingredients
4. Flavor ingredients
5. Flavor enhancer
6. Humectants – help food to retain moisture
7. Nutrient – added to foods to improve their nutritional value and/or to replace
nutrients that are sometimes lost in the process.
8. Preservatives
9. Sweeteners
10. Stabilizers, thickener – added to food to improve body consistency, and
texture.
11. Sealants – used to seal moisture in fresh fruits and vegetables, candies,
gums and dietary supplement.