Food Preservation

Abstract

This chapter is in the newly named Aspects of Food Processing section of the text. The chapters covering food additives and food packaging components of the food processing section appear in Chaps. 17 and 18, respectively.

Glossary

Blanching

Mild heat treatment that inactivates enzymes that would cause deterioration of food during frozen storage.

Canning

An example of a food processing method that involves severe heat treatment. Food is placed inside a can, the lid is sealed in place, and the can is then heated in a large commercial pressure cooker known as a retort.

Commercial sterility

Severe heat treatment. A sterilization where all pathogenic and toxin-forming organisms have been destroyed as well as all other types of organisms which, if present, could grow in the product and produce spoilage under normal handling and storage conditions.

Concentration

Method of removing some of the water from a food, to decrease its bulk and weight. Concentration does not prevent bacterial growth.

Conduction

Transfer of heat from one molecule to another molecule; the major method of heat transfer through a solid.

Convection

Flow or currents in a heated liquid or gas.

D value

Decimal reduction time; time in minutes at a specific temperature required to destroy 90 % of the organisms in a given population.

Dehydration

A means of preservation with the primary intent to decrease moisture content and preclude the possibility of microbial growth such as bacteria, mold, and yeast.

Irradiation

The administration of measured doses of energy that are product-specific. It reduces the microbial load of a food, kills insects, controls ripening, and inhibits the sprouting of some vegetables.

Ohmic heat

In place of radiant heat, a continuous electrical current is passed through food to heat it rapidly, maintaining quality.

Pasteurization

Mild heat treatment that destroys pathogenic bacteria and most nonpathogens. It inactivates enzymes and extends shelf life.

Radiation

Fastest method of heat transfer; the direct transfer of heat from a radiant source to the food being heated.

Thermal death rate curve

Provides data on the rate of destruction of a specific organism in a specific medium or food at a specific temperature.

Thermal death time curve

Provides data on the destruction of a specific organism at different temperatures.