Food Preservation

Why food preservation needs to save food; because Globally, about 69 Crore People  goes to bed on an empty stomach each night, and on average more than “2” persons per hour dies due to hunger.

 By above heart breaking information the food preservation is world’s most important priority.

There are two type of food preservation can be possible one is Pre-harvesting and during harvesting, And second is Post harvesting.

In this article we will discuss on Post harvesting ,specially processed food, as that area is most widely used to make food, like Milk sweet(Like Penda,Burfi,Mohanthal,Gulabjamun etc.)Flour sweet, Namkeen, Roti(Indian flat bread/Chapati), Thepla, Processed Juice,Natural cold processed juice,Khakhra,Ready to eat(Also includes Indian ethnic sabji),Fruit pulp,Ready to serve pre cut fruits, Lassi, All dairy items, Vegetable gravy,Chutney,Biscuits,Jelly,Mouth freshner,Milk powder,Instant premix like Gulabjamun premix,Spice & seasoning,Detox tea,Extruded & roasted snacks,Ready to cook (like khichadi premix,Poha premix),Bakery items specially Khari(Pastry puff),Health bar(Like Chikki,High protein chikki),Edible cutlery(Like Cup,Spoon),Pickle.

 Above as well as  thousands of other food products which is manufactured in food company can be processed in such way that the shelf life(Expiry/Best before) can be extended.

 How to extend shelf life?

Beofre knowing that, We must know that why food is being spoiled/Rancid/Bad smell/Texture change/Colour change ,these all are only due to two reason i.e. 

 (1),Microbial presence or more growth i.e.Fungus,Bacteria,Virus etc. Biological live things.

 (2),Chemical changes i.e. Due to Oxidation ,Heat, UV Rays, Moisture, enzymatic browning; and nonenzymatic browning,Chemical reaction, Wrong preservative chosen, Wrong recipe when different components in the food react with each other or with some added component which alter the food's sensory characteristics, Development of off-flavours and odours (e.g. rancidity).

 Means Food Consultant can help to prevent or Slow down above two Reason; And automatically shelf life will enhance; But to give solution for these two Reason,Most of the food manufacture knows Only “PRESERVATIVE” While the role of preservative is only 60% , It means you have to overcome above to reason, The right preservative or combination of preservative will give solution for 60% Preservation only.

 Remaining 40% solution is to be done by following method-

1-Use of some chemicals, which work as Preservation, but it is not coming in Preservative category that chemical will work by many method, like these chemical will make chelate with metal ion in food and that metal ion will not do harm to food Example:Potato can be treated with such chemical ,So browning of potato can not occure.

 2-when vegetables and fruit are damaged by falling or breaking. Such damage can release enzymes that trigger chemical reactions. Tomatoes become soft, for example, and apples and other types of fruit turn brown. The fruit can also become rancid, some solution of that is also available by pre-treatment and Packaging method.

 3-The growth of most microorganisms can be prevented or lingered by adjusting storage temperature.

 4-Reducing water activity by adding some chemical like Humactant in sweet can keep Sweet more fresh. If you remove enough moisture from a food, it will be protected from bacterial contamination. A water activity of 0.76 or lower should do the trick. Dried meat, when combined with rendered fat and maybe some berries, could keep a person alive and thriving for months upon months.

 5-Lowering pH of food by many chemicals And Pickling process which regulate the pH. Pickling is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine or vinegar. The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food an interesting twist in flavor. In East Asia, vinaigrette (vegetable oil and vinegar) is used as the pickling medium.

 Another distinguishing characteristic is a pH 4.6 or lower, which is sufficient to kill most bacteria. Pickling can preserve perishable foods for months or years.

 6-Machine Modification :By this Many things like Oxydation can be prevented like Non use of Nut,Bold,Rivate which is made with Copper,Brass,Zink,Lead etc metal ,As these metal will work as catalyst for Oil oxidation or other oxidation and make Food spilage more fast.

 7- Fermentation: This is the chemical transformation of complex organic substances into simpler compounds by enzymes produced by bacteria, molds, and yeasts. It’s a kind of “pre-digestion,” performed by microorganisms long before humans were around to witness it The fermentation products acetic acid, lactic acid, and alcohol act as natural preservatives for food and its nutrients while creating exciting, complex flavors. In a world without refrigeration, this was essential if you wanted to store enough food for leaner times without it spoiling or bleeding vitamins. Also, because the food is “pre-digested” by microorganisms, it’s easier to digest and you get more energy out of it. Fermentation can also create new nutrients, especially B-vitamins, and fermented food can populate our guts with helpful bacteria (or pass along helpful genetic data to existing bacteria). Obviously, traditional cultures didn’t know all these things, but they knew fermented food lasted longer, tasted better, and made them feel better.

 8- Salt curing:This is old technique and due to salt microbial bacterials can not survive,Alongwith salt some more chemicals needs to prevent the colour of that food.There are many type of salt present . you have to choose which one is suitable for your product.

 9-SMOKING:The well known process is BBQ, Smoking does a couple things. It dries out the Food(Vegetable or Seasoning), whether by direct cooking or indirect heat. Reducing the moisture content dissuades bacterial colonization, thereby preserving the food. But smoke also contains phenolic compounds that bind to the surface of the food and act as antioxidants. Phenolics with antioxidant capabilities, can prevent oxidation and rancidity. A study even proposes that these phenolic compounds derived from smoking (with alder wood) act not only as preservatives, but also as potential health benefactors. If the smoking does not fully dehydrate the food, however, only the surface will be protected.And give mouth watering smell also.

 10- Refrigeration :Optimum temperature range for perishable food storage is 3 to 5 °C.

 11-Freez Drying: We have done experiment on Sugar can juice, And obtain good result, It can be in Powder form, And once reconstitute it will made Same sugar can juice like Fresh, But the Process costing is around Rs.150per kg, By this method as well as adding some food chemicals we can preserve thousands of Food products.

 12- SUGARING:The purpose of sugaring is to create an environment hostile to microbial life and prevent food spoilage. Sugaring is commonly used to preserve fruits as well as vegetables such as ginger. From time to time sugaring has also been used for non-food preservations. For example, honey was used as part of the mummification process in some ancient Egyptian rites.

 13-THERMAL STERILISATION: Mainly at 120deg.c for 20min packed food can give the shelf life of 12months to 18months, The same type of Manufacturing plant also established by us at Rajkot which can enhance the shelf life of cooked vegetables from one days to 12months,You can preserve the Boiled vegetables, Boiled peanut ,Boiled ready dal for 12months.

These products are called “Ready to eat” food, The thermal sterilisation can be done by UHT or Another method of special machine which regulate the pressure and quick cooling.

 14-CANNING: 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. A freeze-dried canned product, such as canned dried lentils, could last as long as 30 years in an edible state.This process comes under above No13 i.e.Thermal sterilisation also.

 15- MEMBRANE FILTERATION:The pressure-driven membrane processes are microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO).The most of the people know is RO in which Water passing through multiple units can achieve near zero effluent contaminant concentrations. Disinfection is also recommended to ensure the safety of water.

While in Nanofilteration Food materials or water passed through 0.001 micron filter with Operating pressures are usually near 600 kPa (90 psi) and can be as high as 1,000 kPa (150 psi). These systems can remove virtually all cysts, bacteria, viruses, and humic materials.

 16- Modified atmospheric packaging: The normal composition of air is 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and less than 0.1% carbon dioxide. Modification of the atmosphere within the package by reducing the oxygen content while increasing the levels of carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen has been shown to significantly extend the shelf-life of perishable foods at chill or ambient temperature as less oxygen means less oxidation of food; there are Some high moisture content food Like thepla,Roti,Indian sweets,Pakoda,Gathiya etc. already packed in this technique.

 17- High intensity pulsed electric field: By this method, The high electric current (typically 20–80 kV/cm), passed in food,and due to this ,the Bacterials or other microbes cell wall breaks.

 18- Light pulses:Pulsed light is a method of food preservation that involves the use of intense and short-duration pulses of broad spectrum ‘‘white light’’ (ultraviolet to the near infrared region). For most applications, a few flashes applied in a fraction of a second provide a high level of microbial inactivation. This technology is applicable mainly in sterilising or reducing the microbial population on packaging or food surfaces. It could be shown that light-impulses are able to extend the durability of bread, cakes and pastries,Milk sweets.

 19- Oscillating magnetic fields(OMF): Preservation of foods with OMF involves sealing food in a plastic bag and subjecting it to 1–100 pulses in an OMF at temperature of 0 to 50 C for a total exposure time ranging from 25 to 100 ms.

20- Ultrasound:Ultrasonic waves (energy generated by sound waves of 20,000 Hz or more) generate gas bubbles in liquid media that produce a high temperature and pressure increase when they immediately burst. The bactericidal effect of ultrasound is attributed to intracellular cavitation, that is, micro-mechanical shocks that disrupt cellular structural and functional components up to the point of cell lysis.

 21-High pressure processing:The technology of high pressure processing (HPP), also referred to as ultra high pressure UHP) or high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is used to delay microbial spoilage of milk and cold processed juice some companies in India.

 HPP subjects liquid and solid foods, with or without packaging, to pressures between 100 and 800 MPa. Process temperature during pressure treatment can be from below 0 oC to above 100 oC. Exposure times can range from a few seconds to over 20 min.

Food treated in this way has been shown to keep its original freshness, colour, flavour and taste. HPP acts instantaneously and uniformly throughout a mass of food independent of size, shape and food composition.

 22- High pressure carbon dioxide (HPCD):High pressure carbon dioxide (HPCD) is another upcoming treatment that is beingm extensively used as a non-thermal technique for food pasteurization. The process is not only environmentally friendly due to the non-toxic nature of carbon dioxide but also involves application of lower CO2 pressure as compared to those employed for HPP.

 23-Irradiation:

The use of ionizing radiation as a means of food preservation is being extensively researched and is approved in many countries. The use of radiation dose up to 7 kilo Gray (kGy) has been sanctioned by WHO as safe. The critical target of ionizing radiation is the bacterial DNA.

Gamma rays, X-rays and electron beam are the most common types of ionizing radiation.Gamma radiation is generated using radioactive isotopes.

24- Ultra-violet radiation:We have used this technique in Dabur India Limited for 10 years when I was there, In this Irradiation using non-ionizing rays, especially ultraviolet (UV)-C (wavelengths of 220–300 nm with 90% emission at 253.7 nm) has been approved as a non-thermal method. 

This technique has been used extensively to decontaminate food surfaces directly or other materials which come in contact with food surfaces. The main industrial application of UV is its use in disinfection of drinking water.We were purchasing these UV Tubes from Philips Holland.

 25- Hurdle technology or synergism:

Hurdle approach or the process of using multiple technologies is an effective approach to improve microbial decontamination in comparison to that of a single technology alone.

Deliberate and intelligent combination of preservative treatments can help in maintaining the quality of food and delivering almost similar levels of microbial destruction as conventional methods alone. At the same time it warranties to counteract the negative effect of individual technologies on food quality.

 So, Food consultant can help to save your food products like We are doing following methods to enhance shelf life of food 

(1),Gives you recipe of Food Additives Premix , Which contains 3 to 9 ingredients ,And easy to make at your place,Which can be added in your food in the range of 2g to 12g per kg.

(2).Processing of that particular food from many  method to be enhance expiry date by decreasing the Oxidation of Food ingredients as well as Microbial growth. 

(3),Packaging & Machine technology to pack the Food  in controlled & Modified environmental condition and to store in controlled environmental conditions. 

(4),Packaging materials selection of our required OTR, As the OTR is main important parameter of Packaging materials like Pouch or Containers. 

(5),Our Recommendations helps to Maintain the Softness & Texture of the Sweet(MITHAI) or any products due to prevention of Rancidity which is due to Oxidation by the selection of Raw Materials(Ingredients of Your sweet,Not our Premix) 

Above all kind of activity already done by us in our R&D Center,Rajkot ; And for all Raw materials required to preserve is to be given by us.

Phone No.9824930108/ For More details, Visit our site i.e. www.foodconsultantindia.com