COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH

SCIENCE
SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL AND LABORATORY SCLENCE
DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY
– PUBLIC HEALTH MICROBIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

» Summitted to Mr Setegn (…PHD)

» Summitted date 22/9/13

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• Group members
– Melekot Wallelgn……………….04043/10
– Mikiyas Molla…………………….04076/10
– Mulugeta Tesfaw………………..04026/10
– Mulugeta Chekol………………...04048/10
– Mintamir Ewunetu ………………04069/10
– Mohamud Dahir………………....04101/10
– Muluken Birhanu…………………04045/10
– Naimo Ahmed……………………..04102/10

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Food Preservation
Methods and Storage

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 objectives
At the end of the session students are expected to:
• Define food preservation methods

• List the various forms of food preservation techniques

• Choose the appropriate methods of food preservation
methods
• know how to store different food types
 Introduction
 Food preservation involves the action taken to maintain
foods with the desired properties or nature for aslong
as possible.
• The first person to appreciate and understand the
presence and role of microorganisms in food was
Pasteur.
– In 1837, he showed that the souring of milk was
caused by microorganisms, and
– In about 1860 he used heat for the first time to
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destroy undesirable organisms in wine and beer.

 Food Preservation Methods
 Food preservation refers to the different techniques that
are applied to food to prevent it from spoiling
 Based on the mode of action, the major food preservation
techniques can be categorized as
1. Slowing down or inhibiting chemical deterioration and
microbial growth,
2. directly inactivating bacteria, yeasts,molds, or enzymes,
and
3. avoiding recontamination before and after processing
 Food preservation methods involve the use of physical /
traditional, modern methods and Chemical methods.
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Mechanisms of food preservation
 Based on the mode of action, the major food preservation
techniques can be categorized as
1. slowingdown or inhibiting chemical deterioration
and microbial growth, e.g freezing , drying ,low
temprature etc
2. directly inactivating bacteria, yeasts,molds, or
enzymes, e.g steralization .cooking , pasteuriztion
3. avoiding recontamination before and after
processing e.g packaging,
Classes of food prezervation methods
A. Physical methods

Canning.
• Canning is a method of preserving foods by first heating and
sealing it in air-tight jars, cans or pouches.
• Foods that must be pressure canned include most
vegetables, meats, seafood, poultry, and diary products
Drying:
• A number of foods (fruits, vegetables, tubers-cassava, and
potatoes) which cannot be stored for long in their fresh state
without spoiling can be preserved by drying.
• Before drying, there should be enough sunshine and foods
should be sliced in small pieces for them to dry faster.
Boiling : Boiling of foods kills food microbes
Perishable foods can be boiled, cooled and kept in clean
containers and then used within a day.
Clamping
• It is a traditional methods of preservation.
• It is commonly used for rooted vegetables and fruits
like potatoes, Onion etc.
• It controls moisture and direct sunlight.
• More applicable in field situation
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 Smooking:
 Smoking meats done in a smoke house.
 It uses a combination of heat to dry the meat without
cooking it, and the use of the aromatic hydrocarbons to
preserve the meat.
 It has long years practice in human life Preservation that
involves exclusion of air:
 This methods modify the gases in the food
 Microbes which is anaerobic can not grow in aerobic
atmosphere.
 Carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium gases are used to
modify the gases.Recommended for cereals
 Chemical preservation

• Benzoic acid
• Mechanism of action
– Dissolve the cell membrane of microbes
 Leakage of H+ out of cells
 The microbe expend more energy to keep the H+ from leaking and to
maintain the integrity of the cell membrane.
• Limitation
– Antimicrobial activity is pH dependent:
 Effective in its un-dissociated form at low pH.
– at pH 4.0 → 60% of the cpd is un-dissociated  Effective.
– at pH 6.0 → 0nly 1.5% un-dissociated  in- effective
– essentially ineffective at neutral values.

Thus, benzoic acid is used only in high acid products, such as apple cider,
soft drinks, salad dressings, etc.
 Nitrites and Nitrates
• Important in meat industry. → Cured meat formulations
• NaNO2 and NaNO3 are used in curing formulas for meats
because they:
i. Stabilize red meat colour,
ii. Inhibit some spoilage & food poisoning org. Ex. Clost.
iii. Contribute to flavour dev’t.
• NO2:
– Is effective generally at low pH.
– Important in inhibition of C. botulinum
– Effective against S. aureus at higher conc,
– In-effective against Enterobacteriaceae and LAB.
• The nitrite ion is more important than nitrate in
preserved meats.
• Nitrite is highly reactive and is capable of serving as
both a reducing and an oxidizing agent.
• In an acid environment, it ionizes to yield nitrous acid
(3HONO), which further decomposes to yield nitric
oxide (NO), an important product for color fixation in
cured meats.
Nitric oxide reacts with myoglobin under reducing
conditions to produce the desirable red pigment
nitrosomyoglobin.
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 Salting

• Salting or curing draws moisture from the meat through a

process of osmosis.
• Meat is cured with salt or sugar, or a combination of the
two.
• Nitrates and nitrites are also often used to cure meat.
Sugaring
• Sugar is used to preserve fruits, either in syrup with
fruit such as apples, peaches, apricots or in crystallized
form.
• The preserved material is cooked in sugar to the point
of crystallization and the resultant product is then
stored dry.
• This method is used for the skins of citrus fruit
(candied peel), angelica and ginger.
• The use of sugar is often combined with alcohol for
preservation of luxury products such as fruit in brandy
or other spirits.
Pickling
• Pickling is a method of preserving food by placing it or
cooking it in a substance that inhibits or kills microorganisms.
• Typical pickling agents include brine (high in salt), vinegar, ethanol,
and vegetable oil, especially olive oil but also many other oils.

• Most pickling processes also involve heating or boiling so that the

food being preserved becomes saturated with the pickling agent.

• Frequently pickled items include vegetables such as cabbage,

peppers, and some animal products such as corned beef and
eggs.

• EDTA may also be added to cheleate calcium. Calcium is

essential for bacterial growth.
Lye
• Sodium hydroxide (lye) makes food too alkaline for
bacterial growth.
• Lye will saponify fats in the food, which will change its
flavor and texture.

Jellying
• Food may be preserved by cooking in a material that
solidifies to form a gel.
• Such materials include gelatine, agar, maize flour and
arrow root flour.
• Some foods naturally form a protein gel when cooked
such as eels and elvers.
• The so called “ Bulla powder”, an Ethiopian food is jelying
food
Emerging food preservation methods
A. Ultra-high pressure hydrostatic processing
• At pressures of 50 000 to 120 000 PSI, spoilage
organisms and pathogens can be destroyed
• Create very little heating of the product.
• It is speculated that the mechanism of vegetative cell
inactivation is through rupture of the cell wall during
pressure release.
• With the addition of mild heating plus high pressure, some
more fragile bacterial spores can also be inactivated.
• The ultra-high pressure process was first commercialized
in Japan
B. Ohmic processing
• Electric current applied directly to a conductive food
allows for rapid heating of the food product.
• The heat generated destroys microorganisms in a
manner similar to classical thermal processing.
• It has found applications in Europe, as well as in the
United States.
• Future applications, such as for aseptic food
products,
• It has advantage of the unique characteristic of a
process that involves both the uniform heating of
particles and the suspension of fluid.
C. High-intensity light pulses
• Very intense white light (20 000 times the strength of
sunlight on earth)
• It is capable to inactivate both spores and vegetative
cells.
• Pulsed light may destroy microbes through both rapid
surface heating.
• There is no real cooking of the product, and a
photochemical mechanism.
• Future surface treatment of foods and package
material decontamination applications are anticipated
using pulsed light technology.
E. Radio-frequency (RF) heating
• Food material is placed in an electrical field
consisting of pulses of radio waves.
• This generates heat throughout by a rapid reversal of
the polarity of molecules.
• Future applications for bakery products as well as for
comminuted meat products.
• Other potential applications include reduction of
Salmonella in eggs and destroying harmful bacteria
in fresh fruit juices.
F. Thermo-sonication
• Uses ultrasound and heat at moderate temperatures
• Enhance inactivation of microorganisms.
• This may be particularly useful for pasteurization of
certain beverages where a reduced temperature is
desirable.
• Has potential application for emulsified foods,
especially where a product's rheological qualities can
be improved by this method.
 G. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and
active packaging

• Controlled atmosphere storage and preservation of

packaged food products.
• Widely utilized technology for fresh foods, prepared
foods and baked products.
• It utilize inert gases, reactive gases or vacuum
• Control microorganisms as well as maintaining
product color and freshness.
H. Irradiation
• The destruction of bacterial cells and spores by radiation
has been recognized for years.
• FAO has estimated that, worldwide, about 25 % percent of
all food production is lost after harvesting to insects,
bacteria and rodents.
• Many countries lose huge amounts of grain because of
insect infestation, moulds and premature germination.
• Radiation processing offers an alternative to fumigation and
some other treatments.
• It is not attractive from the consumers point of view
 Food storage
• Food storage broadly refers to the differentmeans
through which food can be kept for longer periods
without the food spoiling.
 It is essential to store food properly to ensure the
following
 Food remains in good condition for as long as possible
 Food is protected from flies, dust and other organisms that can spoil
and/or contaminate food
 Food is protected from organisms like insects and rats that eat and
spoil food. For instance, proper storage of grains protects it from rats
and aphids which eat and spoil maize
 Reduction in post-harvest food losses
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General guidelines for food storage

Foods should be stored differently on the basis of

how fast they will spoil . Foods can be categorised
into 3 groups:

1. Perishable (e.g. milk, meat, raw fish)

2. Semi-perishable (e.g. vegetables and grains)
3. Non-perishable foods (tinned or dried food)

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Perishable: These have the shortest shelf life and
must be used within a few days. These should be stored
in a clean cool place.
• e.g. eggs, milk, cream, fresh meat.
Semi-perishable foods: Breads and cakes should be
stored in a bread bin or tin. Fruit and vegetables may be
stored in a rack or basket.
e.g. bread, cakes, fresh fruit and vegetables
Non-perishable foods: e.g. dry, bottled and tinned
foods can be stored in a cupboard on their own or in
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airtight containers
Constructing a clay pot
fridge
• This is made of a clay pot, a
basin of water and a clean
cloth. Place the pot in the
basin of water. Put the
vegetables inside it and
cover the pot with a clean
wet cloth. Place one corner
of the cloth in the basin of
water so that water is
continuously sucked into
the cloth as it dries out. 29
 Summary
• In order to feed the world population food
has to be preserved.
• A number of preservative methods are
available.
• Some of them are natural methods while
others are chemical means
• A single preservation method can not be
applicable for all food types
– References

Mead, P. S., L. Slutskaer, V. Dietz, L. F. McCaig, J. S. Bresee, C. Shapiro, P. M. Griffin, and R.

V. Tauxe. Food-related illness and death in the United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases
5(5):607–625 (1999).

John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester,West Sussex PO19
8SQ, England, 2005.
THANK YOU

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