Preservation of Food by Canning

Canning
Canning may be defined as the preservation of foods in hermetically sealed containers
by the application of heat and pressure. Canned Asparagus, Canned fish, Canned Ham,
Canned sardines, Canned tuna etc.
Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and
sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a shelf life typically ranging from one
to five years, although under specific circumstances it can be much longer.
Brief History
During Napoleon, in 1790, France was in the war and facing problems of supplying
meat to soldiers due to putrefaction of meat during transit and storage. Napoleon
declared a prize of 12,000 Francs for inventing useful methods of preserving meats and
other foodstuffs for a longer period. Nicolas Apart, a French able to preserve food for a
longer period until the container is opened. Nicolas Apart thus invented the process of
canning and receive the award from Napoleon. Henceforth the process of canning is
also called Appertising after the name of Nicolas Appert. Appert is known as the Father
of Canning. Saddington in England was the first to describe a method of canning of
food in 1807.
Principles and Process of Canning
Principle: The minimum requirement for the process for any product is that it should
be adequate to destroy the most heat-resistant bacteria (Clostridium botulinum) likely to
be present in foods. The pH of the food play very important role in thermal processing
or canning of food. In acidic food, microorganisms are less heat resistant and it is easier
to kill them. While in non-acidic food (high pH), microorganisms are more heat
resistant and it is difficult to kill them and ultimately require severe heat treatment
during canning.
The spores of Clostridium botulinum don’t germinate at pH 4.4 or below and are more
easily killed at pH below 4.5. The lower limit of growth of Clostridium botulinum is at pH
4.5. Food with pH 4.5 or above, steam pressure is used to processed at high temperature
[ 10 psig=1160C; 15 psig=1210C; 20 psig=1270C], where 10 psig= 25 psi abs.
On the contrary food with pH below 4.5 may be processed at atmospheric pressure at
1000C. The processing time for canned foods vary with the nature of the products, the
capacity of the container, sterility desired and other factors.

Canning of Fruits and Vegetables

The canning process of fruits and vegetables is given below:
1. Selection of fruits and vegetables
 Fruits and vegetables should be absolutely fresh
 Fruits should be ripe, but firm, and uniformly mature. Over-ripe fruits should be
rejected because they are infected with microorganisms and give poor-quality
products. Unripe fruits should be rejected because they generally shrivel and
toughen on canning.
 All vegetables except tomato should be tender.
 The tomato should be firm, ripe enough and be deep red color.
 Fruits and vegetables should be free from dirt.
  They should be free from blemishes, insect damage or mechanical injury.
2. Grading
 Selected fruits and vegetables are graded accordingly size and color to obtain
uniform quality products.
 This can be done by hand or machine such as screw grader, roller grader
 Fruits like berries, cherries, and plums are graded whole while peaches, pears,
apricots, mangoes, pineapples etc., are generally graded undercutting into pieces
or slices.
3. Washing
 It is important to remove pesticide residues and dust from fruits and vegetables.
 One gram of soil contains 1012 spores of microorganisms. Therefore, removal of
microorganisms by washing with water is essential.
 Fruits and vegetables are washed in different ways. Root crops that loosen in the
soil are washed by soaking in water containing 25-50 ppm chlorine. Other
methods of washing are spray washing, steam washing etc.
4. Peeling
the objectives of peeling are to remove the outer layer. Peeling may be done in various
ways:
i. Hand peeling: It is mostly done in case of fruits with an irregular shape. For
example, mango and papaya, where mechanical peeling is not possible.
ii. Steam peeling: Free-stone and clingstone peaches are steam peeled in different
ways. The former is cut and steam washed. Potato and tomato are peeled by boiling
or steam.
iii. Mechanical peeling: It is done in case of apples, peaches, pineapples, cherries and
also for root vegetables like carrot, turnips, and potatoes.
iv. Lye peeling: Fruits like peaches, apricots, sweet oranges, mandarin and vegetable
likes, carrots, sweet potatoes are peeled by dipping them in 1-2% boiling caustic
soda solution (Lye) for 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on nature and maturity.
Hot lye loosens the skins from the flesh by dissolving pectin. The peel is then easily
removed by hand.
Any trace of alkali is removed by washing the fruits and vegetables thoroughly by
running cold water or dipping it for few seconds in 0.5% citric acid solution. This is
the quickest method where cost and wastage in peeling are reduced.
v. Flame peeling: It is used only for garlic and onion which have papery cutter
covering. This is just burnt off.
Vegetables like peas are shelled, carrots are scraped, and beans are snipped or
trimmed.
5. Cutting
Pieces of the size required for canning are cut. Seed, stone, and core are removed. Some
fruits like a plum from which the seed can not remove easily are canned whole.
6. Blanching
 It is known as scalding, parboiling and precooking. Fruits are generally not
blanched leaving the oxidizing enzyme system active.
 It is done by boiling fruits and vegetables into the water at from 180-2200F for 1-5
minutes and then immediately cooled by immersion in cold water.
 The objective is to soften the texture and enable a greater weight to be pressed
into the container without damage to individual fruits.
  Blanching is usually done for vegetables by exposing them to boiling water or
steam for 2-5 minutes, followed by cooling. The extent of blanching varies with
the food. This brief heat treatment accomplishes the following:
Flow-sheet for canning process

Selection of fruits and vegetables

Grading

Washing

Peeling

Cutting

Blanching

Cooling

Filling and brining or syruping

Exhausting

Sealing

Processing

Cooling

Storage

Advantages:
i. Inactivates most of the plant enzymes which causes toughness, discoloration
(Polyphenol oxidase), mustiness, off-flavor (peroxidase), softening and loss of
nutrient.
ii. Reduce the area of leafy vegetables such as spinach by shrinkage and wilting,
making their packaging easier.
iii. Remove tissue gases by reducing sulfides.
iv. Reduce the number of microorganisms by as much as 90%.
v. Enhance the green color of vegetables such as spinach, peas, broccoli.
vi. Removes saponin in peas.
vii. Removes undesirable acids and astringents taste of peel and thus improves flavor.
viii. Removes the skin of vegetables such as beetroots, tomatoes which helps in their
peeling.
Disadvantages
i. Water-soluble materials like vitamins, anthocyanin pigment are leached by boiling
water.
 ii. Fruits lose their color, flavor, and sugar.
7. Cooling
After the blanching, the fruits and vegetables are dipped in cold water for being
handling for keeping them in good condition.
8. Filling
 Before filling can are washed with hot water and sterilized but in developing
countries, these are subjected to a jet of steam to remove dust and foreign
materials.
 An automatic large can-filling machine in advanced countries but choice grades
of fruits are normally filled by hand to prevent bursting.
 After fill, covered with brine or syrup is done and this process is called brining or
syruping.
 A 1-lb butter size can hold 230-285 gm of fruit slices and A 2 size can hold 510-
565 gm
 The blanched vegetables are packed in a sterilized can which should hold the
drained weight of fruits or vegetables as specifies below:
A 1-lb butter size can: 269-283 gm

A 2 size can: 538-566 gm

Pint-size glass jar: 283-311 gm

Syruping
 A solution of sugar in water is called syrup while, refined sucrose is employed,
either of canes or beets origin.
 Normally sucrose syrup is used in canning.
 The syrup is added to improve the flavor and act as a heating medium for
facilitating processing. Syruping is done only for fruits.
 Strained, hot syrup of concentration 20-550Brix is poured on the fruits.
 Fruits rich in acids are required more concentrated syrup than less acid fruits.
 The syrup should be filled at 79-820C. Sometimes citric acid and ascorbic acid
added to the syrup for improved flavor and nutritional values respectively.
The quantities of sugar to be dissolved in 1 liter of water to make the syrup of different
concentrations are given in a table below:
Sugar (kg) Syrup concentration (%)
0.250 20
0.333 25
0.428 30
0.538 35
0.666 40
0.818 45
1.000 50
1.222 55

Syrup of different strength can be made by dissolving 1 kg of sugar in different volume

of water, as shown in the following table:
 Syrup strength Water (Litre)
Light 2.0
Medium 1.5
Heavy 1.0

Brining
 A solution of salt in water is called brine. The objectives of brining same as
syruping.
 Only vegetables are brined. Common salt of good quality free from iron should
be used.
 The hot brine of 1-3% used for covering vegetables and is filled at 79-820C,
leaving a headspace of 0.3-0.5 cm. The brine should be filtered through a thick
cloth before filling.
 Salt has high chemical and bacteriological purity is only used in vegetable
canning.
Syrup of different strength can be made by dissolving the different amount of salt in 1
liter of water, as shown in the following table:
Salt (gm) Brine Concentration (%)
10.00 1
20.40 2
30.92 3
41.66 4
47.33 5
111.11 10
176.47 15
 After syruping or brining the cans are loosely covered with lids and exhausted.
The lids remain sufficiently loose to permit the escape of dissolved as well as free
air from the cans and also vapor formed during the exhausting process.
9. Exhausting
 The process of removing air from cans is known as exhausting. After filling or
liding exhausting is essential. The major advantages of exhausting are-
i. Corrosion of tinplate and pinholing during storage is activated.
ii. Minimize discoloration by preventing oxidation.
iii. Helps in better retention of vitamins particularly Vit-C
iv. Prevents building of cans when stored in a hot climate or high altitude.
v. Reduce chemical reaction between container and contents.
vi. Prevent development of excessive pressure and strain during sterilization.
 Containers are exhausted either by heating or mechanically. The heat treatment
method generally used. the cans are passed through a tank of hot water at 82-
870C or move on a belt through a covered steam box.
 In the water exhaust box, the cans are placed in such a manner that the level of
water is 4-5 cm below that top.
 The exhausted can is heated to the temperature of water reaches 82-1000C and
center temperature of can show 790C.
 The time of exhausting varies to 6-10 minutes, depending on the nature of the
products.
 In case of jars or bottles, vacuum closing machine is used. the bottles or jars are
placed in the close chamber in which high vacuum is maintained.
  It is preferable to exhaust the cans at a low temperature for a long time to
uniformly heating the contents without softening them into pulp.
 Exhausting at high temperature should be avoided because the higher the
temperature, the more is the volume of water-vapor formed and are
consequently the greater the vacuum produce in the cans.
10. Sealing
 Immediately after exhausting the cans are sealed airtight by means of a can
sealer.
 In case of the glass jar, a rubber, a ring should be placed between the mouth of
the jar and the lid, so that it can be sealed airtight.
 During sealing the temperature should not fall below 740C.
11. Processing
 Heating of food for preserving is known as processing, however, in canning
technology processing means heating or cooling of canned food to inactivate
bacteria.
 Many bacterial spores can be killed by either high temperature or low
temperature. Such drastic treatment, however, affects the quality of food.
 Processing time and temperature should be adequate to eliminate bacterial
growth. Overcooking should be avoided as it spoils the flavor as well as the
appearance of food.
 Almost all types of fruits and acid vegetables are processed satisfactorily at a
temperature of 1000C. The presence of acid retards the growth of bacteria and
their spores. Non-acid foods are processed at a higher temperature of 115-1210C.
 Bacterial spores can be more easily destroyed at pH 3.0 (fruits) than at pH 5.0 to
6.0 (Vegetables; except tomatoes and rhubarb). Bacterial spores do not grow or
germinate below pH 4.5. Thus, canned products having pH below 4.5 can be
processed in boiling water but products with pH above 4.5 require processing at
1150C under 10 psi pressure (0.70 kg/cm2) and 1210C under 15 psi pressure (1.05
kg/cm2)
12. Cooling
 After processing, cans are immediately at 390C to stop the cooking process and to
stack-burning. Cooling is done by the following method:
i. Dipping or immersing the hot cans in tanks containing cold water.
ii. Letting cold water into the pressure cooker especially in case of vegetables
iii. Spraying cans with jets of cold water and
iv. Exposing the cans to air
 Generally, the first method is used. If canned products are not cooled
immediately after processing, peaches, and pears become dark in color, tomatoes
turn brownish and bitter in taste, peas become pulpy and cooked taste and many
vegetables become sour.
13. Storage
 After labeling the cans, they should be packed in strong wooden cases or
corrugated cardboard cartons and stored in cooled and dry place.
 The outer surface of the cans should be dry as even a small trace of moisture
sometimes induced rusting.
 Storage of the cans at high temperature should be avoided, as it shortens the
shelf-life of the products and often leads to the formation of hydrogen swell.
Canning of Fish

Canning in the narrow sense covers the range of practices beginning with pre-treatment
of fish as well as preparation of can; the filling and closure of the can and the crucial
techniques of heating the filled cans to such a degree that the adequate killing of
microorganisms is attained without undue damage to fishes; and finally, the cooling;
cleaning and storage the product.
Procedure
1. Descaling: Descaling is done with the help of a knife. Care is taken so that the
fish is not affected. All the fins and the tail is removed.
2. Beheading: The heads are cut off and evisceration is done.
3. Washing: The dressed fishes are washed with water.
4. Brining: Dip in 25% brine (salt solution) for 10 minutes.
5. Washing: After brining the fishes are washed quickly.
6. Packing in cans: Pack the fishes in cans by putt in fishes in head-to-tail position
with belly upright.
7. Pre-cooking: Pre-cook the fish in the can for 20 minutes.
8. Draining of water: The water which comes out fish due to pre-cooking is
drained out.
9. Addition of oil: Refined ground or any kind of edible oil is added to each can @
21 ml per 3-3 Ounce of fish.
10. Exhausting: The filled cans are exhausted for 7-8 minutes. This could be
achieved by steam exhausting or heating the filled can at the can center
temperature of about at 800C.
11. Seaming: The exhausting cans are double seamed and sealed cans are
immediately inverted. Then the cans are washed with detergent (1-1.5% Na3PO4
solution at 800C).
12. Processing (Retorting): The sealed cans are heated in the retort at 10 psig for 1
hour.
13. Cooling: The cans are cooled by cooling water after processing.
14. Labeling and storing: The cans are then labeled and stored.
Canning - Temperatures and Processing Times
Using the proper processing temperature and time is very important when canning
foods to ensure that the processed food will be safe to eat. If not processed properly the
food will spoil. There are several factors that affect the amount of processing time
required. Some of these factors are listed below:
 The size and shape of the jars. Less time is needed for smaller jars.
 Whether they have been raw packed or hot packed.
 The amount of liquid in the jars. More liquid will allow the jar contents to heat
more quickly.
 The size of the food being processed. Smaller pieces will heat faster.
 The canning method being used. Pressure canning will be faster.
 The altitude in your area. See at the bottom of each chart for instructions on how
much to adjust the processing time for altitudes above sea level.
Containers for Canning/ Heat Processing
Tinplate container
 The most important container still in use for the packaging of food for heat
processing is the open top tinplate can. Tin cans are made of thin steel plate of
low carbon content, lightly coated on both sides with tin metal.
 The properties of tinplate which makes it an ideal construction material are:
i. Strength and rigidity
ii. Ability to be worked at high speed (construction of can bodies and ends,
and formation of a double seam and side seam)
iii. good corrosion resistance under normal storage conditions
iv. Attractive appearance
v. Ability to withstand high temperature and pressure
vi. Ease of decoration
 Tinplate which is usually used for the construction of tin cans consists of 9 layers
comprising-
1. The central core of base steel covered on each surface by a layer of a tin-
iron alloy
2. A layer of oxide
3. Finally, a thin film of oil
4. Lacquered tinplate has another layer, usually on one side
5. The relative thickness of the various layers is approximately- base steel
(10,000): Alloy (5): Tin (50): Oxide (0.1): Oil (0.2).
 The thickness of tinplate may range from 0.2-0.9 mm and sometimes up to
1.4mm. The tin used for manufacturing of tin can is at least 98.8% purity. and
produces a highly adherent coating on the steel base.
 The tinplate can be produced by either hot-dipping or electrodeposition process.
the tinplate surface is chemically treated to produce an oxide layer which
improves corrosion and tarnish resistance. several types of lacquer are used in
tinplate cans for foods. These are:
1. Modified epoxy coating: Often used in cans for products such as jams
and meats; they have aluminium pigments and are therefore gray in color.
2. Normal epoxy coating: Appear almost transparent when applied to tin
cans; mainly use for corrosive [acid coating] pigmented products e.g.
acidified beetroots.
3. Phenolic coating: Used for meat cans; they have a little color like the
epoxy-type coating.
4. Oleoresinous coating: Used for products which require a low-cost acid
resistant coating.
5. Sulfur resistant coating: most commonly used lacquer for cans for
processed foods. They are required for peas, corn, vegetable, meat, fish
etc. This lacquer is also of golden color and cans coated with it are called
C-enamel or S.R. cans.
6. Acid resistant coating: Acid resistant lacquer is golden colored enamel
and cans coated with it are called R-enamel or A.R. cans. These cans are
used for packaging of acid foods like peach, pineapple, apricot, raspberry,
strawberry etc.
7. Vinyl and modified vinyl coating: Use as top coats to protect cans for the
product such as beer and carbonated beverage.
The following are the different types of base plates used for can manufacture:
 a) Type L: It is a high purity steel with low metalloid and residual content. This
kind of base plate is used for highly acidic foods.
b) Type MR: It is a low metalloid steel with no severe restriction on residual
content. It is used for moderate acid foods.
c) Type MC: It is similar to MR type but has high phosphorus content to give
mechanical strength or stiffness. It is usually used for low acid foods.
Tin containers are preferred to glass containers because of certain advantages:
1. Ease of fabrication
2. Strength to withstand processing operation
3. Lightweight
4. Ease of handling
5. Cheapness and
6. Can be handled by high-speed machine
7. Ease to decorate
Aluminum containers
 As a material for making cans aluminum has certain advantages:
1. It is light in weight
2. It resists atmospheric corrosion
3. It is not stained by sulfides releases from some food during heating
4. It is non-toxic
5. It may be shaped into containers by several different methods
 unfortunately, aluminum also has some disadvantages:
1. It is difficult to solder
2. It is not as strong in equivalent thickness as tinplate
3. It severely bleaches some products
4. It usually gives shorter shelf-life with wet foods than do tinplate cans
5. It can not be made into cans as simply as tinplate
Glass containers
 Glass containers are still used extensively for the heat preservation of a wide
range of foods, particularly acid products which require mild pasteurization heat
treatments or which are too corrosive for metal containers.
 Glass containers possess two distinct advantages over tin cans:
1. the contents being easily visible, thus can be easily displayed, and
2. They can be used over and over again.
 Glass containers of good quality do not contaminants the content
Flexible film pouches
 Significant advances have occurred in recent years in the development of flexible
film pouches suitable for retort operation. It has certain advantages compared to
tin metal containers:
i. Lightweight
ii. Rapid heating and cooling
iii. Widespread use of reportable pouches will require more production
speeds
iv. Lower pouch cost and
v. Greater consumer acceptance
Can and can seam formation
Can formation: A conventional tinplate container is composed of 3 parts; a cylindrical
body, and 2 ends or lids. The ends are sealed onto the body in a 2-stage seaming
operation called double seaming. Thus, a can contains 2 end seams and a scale seam
which is usually soldered but which can be welded or cemented
The size of the can is specified by two dimensions, the diameter, and the height: Can
size= dia X Ht
Trade name of can Size (mm)
A1 68 × 102
1-lb Jam 78 × 90
Al-T 78 × 119
A2 87 × 114
1-lb Butter 103 × 70
A 2-lb Jam 103 × 102
A 21/2 103 × 119
7-lb Jam 157 × 148
A 10 157 × 178
Recently, a midget can have become highly popular for fruit juice, mango nectar etc. It
holds about 165 ml of beverage and is a very popular picnic pack.
The component of a double seam
If the double seam or side seam of a can are not well formed, air or water-borne bacteria
may leak into the can and cause the contents to spoil. For this reason, the canner must
maintain a constant watch on the closing operation to ensure that the seams are within
the acceptable standards set by can manufacturers.

Figure: the major components of a double seam of the tin can

The dimension of a double seam
In a well-formed seam, the depth of countersink should be approximately the seam as
the length of the outer wall and thickness should not be greatly in excess of the
combined thickness of the five layers of tinplate. The actual dimension, particularly the
thickness, will be influenced by the gauge of tinplate used in the fabrication of tin cans.
The most common thickness of tinplate is 0.28 – 0.305 mm. Considering the tinplate
thickness of 0.28 mm the dimension of the double seam should be approximated as
follows:
Length : 3.09-3.20 mm
Thickness : 1.50-1.55 mm
Body hook : 1.88-1.98 mm
Cover hook : 2.01-2.11 mm
Overlap : Minimum 45%
Wrinkle : 0-2
Minimum overlap is determined by:

% Overlap =

Where
BH = Bodyhook length
CH = Coverhook length
L = Seam length
EPT = End plate thickness
BPT = Body plate thickness
For plate thickness above o below 0.28 mm, the seam thickness will be correspondingly
higher or lower.
Factors affecting heat penetration in canned foods

A variety of factors influence the time required for thermal processing for food. These
include:

1. The material of the container: Glass having a slower rate compared to that of a
metal.
2. The size and shape of the container: Smaller and slim cylindrical cans attain the
desired temperature faster
3. The initial temperature of the food: A higher initial temperature provides the
lethal range for the microorganisms for a longer time and its average
temperature during heating is higher than the food in the can with a lower initial
temperature. A higher temperature is necessary for foods which heat slowly, e.g.
meat, pumpkin etc.
4. Retort temperature: A higher retort temperature heats the food rapidly.
5. The consistency of the food: Nature, sizes, and shapes pieces decide the rate of
heat penetration. The pieces of food may retain the identity as in peas, plums,
beets, asparagus and whole grain corn with smaller pieces requiring less time.
 Pieces may become mushy or change into a viscous mass as in the case of
pumpkin, sweet potatoes, squash and cream-style corn, which get heated slowly
as conduction is the main mechanism of heat transfer.

Pieces may form layers as in the case of spinach and asparagus. In addition, the
consistency of the foods depends on the different types of sauce starch salt or
sugar that may be present.

For example, tomato sauce on baked beans slows down heat penetration more
compared to a plain sauce. Starch concentrations up to 6% decrease heat
penetration, but at higher concentration, has no additional effect.

6. Rotation and agitation of the container: Rotation and agitation of the container
during heat processing hasten heat penetration, particularly if the food is a fluid,
but may cause undesirable physical damage to some solid foods.
7. Sugar and salts: Sodium chloride does not influence heat penetration, as its
concentration is usually low. On the other hand, increasing sugar decreases heat
penetration. However, this effect is counteracted by the decrease in viscosity of
sugar solutions with increasing temperature.
8. Colloids: Starchy food like corn, pectin conduct heat slowly.
Spoilage of canned food

Causes of spoilage of canned foods

Spoilage of canned products may be due to two reasons:

A) Physical or chemical changes, and

B) Microorganisms
A) Spoilage due to physical and chemical changes
1. Swell
 When the ends of an apparently normal and perfect can with good vacuum
become bulged it is term as “swell” or"blower”.
 The bulged is due to the positive internal pressure of gases formed by microbial or
chemical spoilage.
i. Hydrogen swell
 This type of bulging is due to the production of hydrogen gas by the action of
food acids with tin plate.
 The bulging ranges from “flipping” to “hard swell”.
 The food remains free of harmful microorganisms and is fit for human
consumption.
ii. Flipper
 The cans appear normal, but when struck against tabletop one or both ends
become convex and springs or flips out but can be pushed back to normal
condition by a little pressure.
 Such a can termed as “flipper” and may be an initial stage of swell or hydrogen
swell
 It may also cause by over-filling, under-exhausting or gas pressure due to
spoilage.
iii. Springer
 A mild swell at one or both ends of cans is called “springer” which may be an
initial stage of hydrogen swell or be due to insufficient exhausting or overfilling
of the can
 The bulged end (or at least one end) can be pressed back to original position but
will again become convex after sometimes.
iv. Soft swell
 At a more advanced stage, swell develops at both ends of the can which can be
pressed and returned to normal position but spring back when pressure is
removed.
 A swell of this types is known as "soft swell" and is more or similar to that of the
flipper.
v. Hard swell
 This is the final stage of swell.
 The bulged ends cannot be pressed back to normal position and the cans
ultimately burst.

The following precautions are necessary to prevent the formation of hydrogen swell:

i. Good quality of tinplate should be used for making the cans. The quality of
tinplate is related to the porosity of tinplate coating. The greater the porosity, the
greater the chances of corrosion of the can. The porosity is decreased by
 increasing the thickness of the coating. Plain cans are less susceptible to hydrogen
swell than lacquered cans.
ii. About 0.5% citric acid should be added to the syrup used for canning of low acid
fruits such as cherry, mango, papaya etc. Citric acid checks the formation of
hydrogen swell to a greater extent.
iii. Before placing the lid, a headspace of 0.6-0.9 cm should be left in the can which is
to be exhausted.
iv. The lid should be placed firmly or clinched before exhausting to ensure high
vacuum in the can.
v. Can be exhausted for a fairly long time but without affecting the quality of the
products unduly. The large the amount of oxygen remaining in the can, the
greater the chances of corrosion. In the absence of air, the rate of corrosion is low.
oxygen can be excluded from the can by the proper filling of product and be
exhausting it thoroughly.
vi. The sealing temperature should not below 740C.
vii. At high storage temperature, hydrogen swell formation will be more.
2. Overfilling
 Spoilage due to overfilling is common. During retorting, overfilled cans become
strained due to an expansion of the content and in the absence of vacuum in
them swelling take place.
 If the cans are properly exhausted, the excess materials overflow from it due to
expansion and thus spoilage because of overfilling is avoided.
3. Faulty retort operation
 When the seam pressure is reduced quickly at the end of processing, high
pressure developed inside the cans resulting in their distortion and can when
cooled look like swell.
 Cans of a very thin tin plate should not be used as they can not withstand the
pressure which develops in the cans while processing.
4. Under-exhausting
 Cans are exhausted to remove most of the air. This helps in the proper filling of
fruits and vegetables and also creates a good vacuum, which is necessary to
accommodate any pressure that might develop inside the can as a result of the
production of hydrogen due to corrosion.
 Improperly exhausted cans may be suffering severe strain during heat
processing due to the large internal pressure of the gas present on it.
 Longer exhausting at a lower temperature of about 790C gives a better result than
short one at about 870C.
 The purpose of exhausting may have lost if they are allowed to cool down before
closing. That’s why undercooling of the can after exhausting and before closing
should be avoided.
5. Paneling
 It is generally seen in large size cans that the body is pushed inward due to the
high vacuum inside.
 This also occurs when the tin plate is thin or the cans are pressure cooled at very
high pressure.
 in very severe cases, seam leakage may occur but normally this is not regarded as
spoilage.
6. Rust
 Cans having external rust must be thoroughly examined after removing the rust.
 If the walls show pitted appearance, should be rejected as spoiled.
  Cans slightly affected by rust if not used should immediately be rejected.
 Rust is mostly seen under the label and subsequently affects the label as well.
 Rust formation can be checked if the cans are externally lacquered.
7. Foreign flavor
 During preparation, filling, storage or even transportation, conditions may
become unhygienic and the products may have developed foreign or off -flavor.
 If unsuitable metallic containers are used a metallic flavor is develops.
8. Damage
 Rough handling of cans due to carelessness or ignorance may damage them.
 If any cans show sign of leakage or severe distortion they must be rejected.
9. Undesirable texture
 The texture is another important characteristic, like color and flavor, which is
easily detected by the consumer.
 In order to maintain the standard of the products, the texture should be tested
regularly.
 Although there are no parameters for measuring the texture, an instrument like
“Tendometer” which measure the resistance to sharing and relative tenderness,
can be used for peas and beans.
 Calcium salts present in the water used for canning have a “toughening effects”
on peas and beans, but such hardening is considered desirable for potatoes and
tomatoes
10. Corrosion of cans
 Can become corroded or perforated due to the acidity of the contents, especially
high acid fruits.
 In recent year attempts have been made to reduce the spoilage by using improve
lacquers for internal coating of cans.
11. Leakage
 Aa leaking cans is known as “leaker”. This may be due to:
i. Defective seaming.
ii. Nail holes caused by faulty nailing of cases while packing.
iii. excessive internal pressure due to microbial spoilage sufficient to burst the
can.
iv. Internal or external corrosion, and
v. Mechanical damage during handling.
12. Breathing
 There may be a tinny leak in the can through which air can pass in and destroy
the vacuum.
 In such cases, the food is damage due to rusting of cans caused by oxygen in the
air but still remaining fit for human consumption.
13. Bursting
 This may be caused by the excess pressure of gasses produced by the
decomposition of food by microorganisms or by hydrogen gas formed by the
chemical action of food acids on the tin plate. In such cases the can products
cannot be used.
14. Buckling
 Sometimes due to improper cooling, distortion of the can takes place resembling
“swell”.
 Although the distortion can be corrected by pressing, the cans are often badly
strained and the contents become soiled due to an entry of microorganisms
through the strained seams.
  This type of spoilage is known as "buckling". Sometimes a peak or small ridge is
formed on the can which as known as "peaking".
15. Discoloration
 This can be detected by visual examination of the cans and its content.
 Discoloration may be due to the biological cause like enzymatic and non-
enzymatic browning or metallic contamination.
 enzymatic browning due to the enzymes polyphenol oxidase present in fruits
and vegetables can be avoided by the placing the peel and cut piece in 2% salt
solution.
 Non-enzymatic browning is caused by the reaction between:
i. Nitrogenous compounds and sugar
ii. Nitrogenous compounds and organic acids
iii. Sugar and organic acids
iv. Among organic acids themselves. These reactions are called “Millard
reaction”
 Metallic contamination is mainly due to iron and copper salt.
 Some fruits and vegetables contain tannins, which reacts with the iron of tin
plate to form black ferric tannate, which spoils the appearance of the contents.
 Sometimes hydrogen sulfide gas is produced by the reaction of fruit acids and tin
coating, which reacts turns with the iron of the tin plate to form black iron sulfide
 Discolorations also caused by traces of copper (1ppm) from the metal vessels
used; in contact with hydrogen sulfide copper form black copper sulfide.
 Metallic contamination can be avoided by:
i. Using glass containers
ii. Coating the interior of cans with lacquer and
iii. Also eliminating the use of iron and copper vessels
16. Stack burning
 If processed cans are not allowed to cool down sufficiently before storing, the
contents remain hot for a long time. This is known as "stack burning", which
results in discoloration, cooked flavor, and soft or pulpy products.
 Therefore, it is necessary to cool the cans quickly to about 390C before storage.

B. Microbial Spoilage

1. Pre-processing spoilage
 This type of spoilage occurs because of the time gap between filling and heat
processing of cans.
 Although, processing checks the growth of the gas already present in the can
cause swelling and flipping, so delay between filling and processing must be
avoided and also all stages in the preparation of raw materials for canning.
2. Under-processing spoilage
 Under-processing of can foods results in their spoilage by thermophilic bacteria
and mesophilic organisms and this is termed as “under-processed” spoilage.
a) Thermophilic bacteria
 These bacteria are survived at a high temperature of 1000C.
 If cans are stored without adequate cooling, the contents remain at a temperature
favorable for incubation of such bacteria for a fairly long time, with the results
that these bacteria multiply and spoil the product. It is, therefore, essential to
ensure that cans are cool to about 390C before they are stored.
  thermophilic bacteria grow by forming spores. Some species, called facultative
grow at 430C, while some others called obligative, grow at 43-770C. the later is
more difficult to kill than former.
 Some thermophiles produce hydrogen and some produce hydrogen sulfide gas
with blackens the contents.
 The only way to avoid bacterial contamination is to clean and wash the raw
materials thoroughly before canning.
 Sources of bacterial contamination are the plant, equipment’s, sugar, soil, starch
etc.

Three types of spoilage caused by thermophiles:

i. Flat sour
 This occurs mostly in non-acid foods like vegetables and is caused by
thermophilic species of Bacillus such as B. coagulans and B. sterothermophillus
which produce acid without formation of gases.
 It is, therefore, difficult to detect the spoilage from the external appearance of the
can. It may be due to almost entirely under-processing.
 The product has a sour odor and its acidity is much higher than normal
products. It is not fit for consumption.
ii. Thermophilic Acid (TA) spoilage
 In case of TA spoilage, the cans swell due to the production of CO 2 and H2 by
Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum.
 Spoilage mostly occurs in low and medium acid food.
 Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum is an obligate thermophile and therefore
develops in cans store in hot condition.
iii. Sulfide spoilage (Sulphur stinker)
 It is caused by Clostridium nigrificans in low acid food.
 Spores of this bacterium are not very heat resistant and their presence in an
indication of under-processing.
b) Mesophilic organism
 Spoilage by the mesophilic organisms such as some species of Clostridium,
Bacillus, yeast, and fungi are also indicative of under-processing.
 Clostridium butyricum and C. pasteurianum cause a butyric acid type fermentation
in foods with swelling of the container due to the formation of CO 2 and H2. Other
species of Clostridium produce H2S and other gases. The putrefactive anaerobes
generally grow in low-acid materials such as vegetables but sometimes in
medium acid food also.
 Some gas forming Bacilli such as Bacillus polymixa and B. macerans are also
reported to cause spoilage of canned peas, spinach, peach, and tomato.
 The presence of non-spore forming bacteria in foods indicates a leak or under-
processing e.g. Enterococci, Streptococcus thermophilus, Pseudomonas, Micrococcus,
and Proteus.
 Mold and yeasts and their spores are destroyed at pasteurization temperature.
Their presence in can food indicates gross under-processing of leakage.
 Spoilage of can food by yeasts results in CO2 production and swelling of the can.
Film yeast and fungi grow on the surface of the product and cause degradation.
3. After processing
i. Infection due to leakage through seams
 A large number of cans after processing show sign of microbial spoilage due to
the leakage of can seams
 cans which are water-cooled are more likely to leak than air-cooled ones. In such
case, the cans may or may not swell depending upon the type of organism and if
there is a defect in the seam it permits free passage of gas formed in the can.
 For reducing this type of spoilage, the bacteria level of the cooling water should
be low and the can should be properly exhausted to reduce seam strain.
 Moreover, buckling also allows the entry of microorganisms.