Preservation Methods

 What do you mean by Preservation?

Preservation means protecting something from spoilage. Prevention means protecting any product from contamination and can improve its shelf-life so that it remains in good condition after a long period of time. In simple words, we can say that preservation means protecting something from decay, damage or spoilage so that it remains in good condition for a longer period of time. It is the process of keeping things safe and unchanged over time. Preservation can also be done by adding various types of preservatives or chemicals depending on the thing what we want to preserve and sometimes there is no any need to add any preservatives or chemical we just have to change the state of the thing or sometimes we only have to use some techniques like by using the refrigerators, or by drying or heating the particular food item. 

Food Preservation: - 

Similar to the preservation, the food preservation means to protecting the food from decay, damage or spoilage so that it remains in good condition for a longer period of time. It is the process of keeping the food safe and unchanged over a long period of time. Food preservation also refers to the process of treating and handling the food in such a way that it can stop or slow down the spoilage caused by microorganisms like bacteria, fungus, yeast and molds and environmental factors also like heat, water, air and moisture. The preservation of the food is very important because if we want to market our particular product then it is very important that we have to make our product in such a way it should be prevented from spoilage and can extend its shelf-life for long period of time. When we cook food at home, after eating, whatever is eft over, we keep it in the fridge so that it does not get wasted. It does not get spoiled and the food remains fresh so that when we feel like eating it or use it, we take it out heat it and our food remain fresh. If we talked about the street food or the food that we ordered from any particular restaurant can be prevent from spoilage only after keeping it in the fridge. But if we talked about the RTE Products and its other categories then we can't refrigerate that food items so while the preparation of that food items we have to add such kind of preservatives or can prepare the food products in such a way that it does not get spoiled easily.

In simple term, we can say that food preservation means increasing the self-life of the food without losing its quality or safety. The food preservation means preventing the food from spoiling or controlling or stopping the growth of microorganism and by slowing down the chemical and physical changes that makes food go bad. The instant meals and the RTE products are available in the market that have its shelf-life of one year. But preventing the fully cooked food for such a long period is very tough so these types of food is pre-cooked and halfly cooked so that it can be prevented from air, water, heat and moisture so that it can be prevented from the contamination and the food is fresh and hygienic while maintain the nutritional level so that we can get the fresh food whenever we want. 

 Objectives of Food Preservation: -

There are various objectives of the food preservation, and all these objectives are of different types. The main objectives of food preservation are: -

To prevent food spoilage: -

While working in the food industry the main aim of every food owner is to prevent the food from spoilage and can extend their shelf-life so that the consumers can get the fresh and hot food every time. Food preservation is one of the most important aims of every food operator that can stop or slow down spoilage caused by microorganism such as bacteria, molds and yeast. In the packaged food products, the food operators have to add such types of preservatives in the food products that can stop or slow down the growth of bacteria because these microorganisms can cause food to rot, the food smells bad and this type of food is unsafe or bad for our health. By using the preservation methods like refrigeration, heating or drying of the food products can kill or stops the growth of the microbes in the particular food item or food product.

To Extend Shelf-life: -

By preserving the food, we literally mean to preserve the food from the growth of microorganism that can spoil the food and to extend the shelf-life of the food product. Preservation of the food can increase the storage time or shelf-life of food so it can be consumed long after it has been produced or harvested. This is basically important for perishable products like fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and fish.

To Reduce Food Wastage: - 

Every year, large amount of food gets wasted because of the spoilage and lack of preservation. Because the food products cannot be preserved in earlier times due to which the heat, water, air and moisture can leads to the growth of the microbes in the particular food product. By preserving the food, we can save the food from being wasted that help in better food management and reducing hunger. 

To maintain nutritional level and Quality: -

Every food maybe that is raw, cooked, or pre-cooked can contain nutritious but that nutrition and food both the things get spoiled with the growth of the microbes in the air that can contaminated the food by heat, air, water and moisture. But RTE, Instant and some of the packaged products are the products that can be prepared in quick time, preserve the food from contamination by extending its shelf-life by maintaining its nutritional level. Proper preservations ensure that the vitamins, minerals and proteins remain intact for longer periods. This food preservation also helps to retain the color, taste and texture of the food.