Question

What is food preservation? Describe in detail any four common methods of food preservation.

Answer 1

The preservation involves treating and storing the food using methods and techniques that could stop or slow down its spoilage which at the same time maintains its nutritional value, flavour and texture is called as food preservation. Following are some of the methods followed in food preservation:

(i) Boiling : The microbes present in food items can be killed by boiling. This method is often used for milk and water which kills the microbes present in them.
(ii) Dehydration : In this process, the water content present in the food items are removed, in the absence of which microbes cannot grow. Cereals and pulses are preserved in this method.
(iii) Canning : In this process the food items are stored in airtight cans to avoid spoiling. Fish, vegetables, jams and cooked food are preserved by this method.
(iv) Pasteurization : This method involves heating a foodstuff to a high temperature and then cooling it rapidly. Commercially available milk is generally preserved by pasteurization.