Food Preservation MODULE - 2

Foods and Nutrition

9
Notes

FOOD PRESERVATION

You are now familiar with perishability of food and importance of

selection as well as storage of food to prevent its spoilage. Do you know
how you can actually prevent food from getting spoilt? Yes, by preserving
it. You must have seen it at your homes-potato wafers being dried, raw
mango being cut and dried, tomato sauce, chutneys, dal wadi and papads
being made.
Preserved food not only adds variety to our meals but also helps in
utilising excess produce at harvest time. Let us learn more about food
preservation in this lesson.

OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you will be able to:
• define the term 'food preservation' and state its need;
• explain the basic principles of food preservation;
• list and describe household methods of food preservation;
• describe recipes for preservation of simple food items at home.

9.1 MEANING AND NEED FOR PRESERVATION

Food preservation is to treat food to keep it in good condition for a long

time. Why do we do that?
Let us take a simple example of boiling milk. Why do we boil milk? So
that we can use it for a longer period. You know that boiling delays milk
from getting sour. You can say you have processed milk and preserved it,
even if it is for a short duration.

HOME SCIENCE 1
MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition
Food preservation is a form of processing of food to prevent it
from spoilage and making it possible to store in a fit condition
for future use.
It may be as simple as boiling of milk or complicated like pickling of
mango or lemon. By preserving foods, we are also increasing their shelf
Notes life. You already know what shelf life of food means. Yes, it means the time
period for which a food can remain fit for human consumption at optimum
temperature.
Activity 9.1: There are a lot of preserved foods available in the
market. List five of them and state appoximate shelf life of each.
Also, state if there are any instructions about keeping each. Can
you state one reason for doing so?
Activity Table
Food item Shelf life Keeping instructions Reason
on label (Remark)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
9.1.1 Need for preservation
• To increase the shelf 1ife of foods.
• To prepare new products like jams, papads, pickles, etc. Such products
are enjoyed by everyone and all the year round.
• Processing reduces the bulk of fruits and vegetables. The storage and
transportation becomes easier, e.g., 1 kg of carrots wouId take more
space than 1 kg of carrot murraba.
• Helps in ulilizing the food stuffs when available in excess.

9.2 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PRESERVATION

You have learnt earlier that by boiling milk we are preserving it for a
longer time. But, what are you actually doing by boiling? You are killing
the micro- organisms by raising the temperature of milk. Micro-organisms
cannot sur- vive at very high temperature. This is one of the principles of
food preserva- tion. Let us now learn about the principles of food
preservation:

1. By killing the micro-organisms.

 Food Preservation MODULE - 2
Foods and Nutrition
2. By preventing or delaying the action of micro-organisms.
3. By stopping the action of enzymes.
1. By killing the micro-organisms
You already know that boiling of milk kills micro-organisms. Sometimes, Notes
heat is applied for a shorter duration to kill only undesirable micro-organ-
isms, that is those which can spoil the food stuff. It is done while
pasteuriz- ing milk. The cooking that you do at home also keeps food free
from micro- organisms. In canning, (sealing in tins) food is heated to high
temperature to prevent growth of micro-organisms in food.
2. Preventing or delaying the action of micro-organisms
You all know that a peeled apple spoils faster than one with intact skin. Do
you know why? This is because the apple has its skin as a protective
cover- ing which prevents the entry of micro-organisms. Similarly, the
shell of nuts and eggs, skin of fruits and vegetables serve as a protective
coating and delays the action of micro-organisms.
Food packed in polythene bags and aluminium foils are also protected
against micro-organisms. You have read earlier that micro-organisms need
air and water to grow. But if these are removed, you can prevent the action
of micro- organisms and ensure that food does not get spoilt.
Lowering temperature or freezing a food also helps in delaying the action
of micro-organisms and thus in food preservation. You must have come
across frozen foods. Frozen food can be kept for a longer time than fresh
food. This is because micro-organisms cannot act at low temperatures.
Thus, when you are putting food in the refrigerator or freezer, you are
preventing the micro- organism from growing. Lastly, certain chemicals
like sodium benzoate and potassium metabisulphite also help in preventing
the growth of micro-or- ganisms. These chemicals are called
‘preservatives’.
Thus you have learnt that the action of micro-organisms can be delayed or
prevented in many ways:
• by providing a protective covering
• by raising the temperature
• by lowering the temperature
• by adding chemicals
3. By stopping the action of enzymes
Enzymes also cause food spoilage. They are naturally present in food.
Take the example of fruits. Keep a raw banana for a few days and observe
what
MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition
happens to it. Yes, the banana will turn ripe, become yellow and then start
decaying and browning. All this happens due to presence of enzymes.
What will happen if the action of enzymes is stopped? The foodstuff will
be pre- vented from spoiling.
Enzyme action can be prevented by giving a mild heat treatment. Before
Notes
canning or freezing, vegetables are dipped in hot water or exposed to
steam for a few minutes. This is known as blanching. When you heat milk,
you are not only killing micro-organisms present in it but also stopping the
action of enzymes. This extends its shelf life.

INTEXT QUESTION 9.1

1. Which of the following will not help to arrest the action of micro-
organ- isms on tomatoes :
(a) put them is boiling water
(b) put them in a freezer
(c) leave them on the shelf.
2. List four ways of delaying action of micro-organisms on apples.
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3. Define preservation and shelf life.

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9.3 HOUSEHOLD METHODS OF FOOD PRESERVATION

Some of the practical methods which can be used for preserving food at
home are:
(i) Dehydration (Drying)
(ii) Pickling with salt, spices and/or oil
(iii) Making jams, jellies, murabbas
 Food Preservation MODULE - 2
Foods and Nutrition
(iv) Bottling of squashes and juices
(v) Freezing
i) Dehydration (Drying)
Preservation of foods by drying is an age old method. Drying is observed
in cereal grains, legumes and nuts. All these dry on the plant itself. Notes
Dehydration usually implies the use of controlled conditions of heating,
with the forced circulation of air.
Dried foods are preserved because the available moisture level is so low
that micro-organisms cannot grow and enzyme activity is controlled. Due
to their reduction in weight, dried foods are more easily transported and
stored.
You can make various types of papads, amchur, potato/banana and tapioca
chips, badis, etc., by sun-drying at home.
Vegetables can also be sundried by first
blanching and then drying. You can sun-
dry beans, peas, potatoes, cauliflower,
la- dies finger, garlic, onion and all leafy
veg- etables. Fruits like apricots,
bananas, dates, grapes, peaches, pears,
apples, etc.
can also be sun-dried. The process is
simple. Fig. 9.1: Dehydration

Green leafy vegetables like methi, pudina, palak are washed thoroughly,
plucked, spread on a clean cloth and sun dried. They are covered with a
muslin cloth to prevent contamination by dust. After drying, they are
stored in clean, dry, air-tight containers.

POTATO CHIPS
Ingredients
Potatoes
Salt
Polythene bags
Water
Potassium metabisulphite (KMS)
Trays or big plates or large polythene sheets
Muslin cloth
Method
Wash potatoes, peel and cut into circular pieces of 2-3 mm thickness. Dip
the pieces in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Take out and dip the potato
chips in cold water containing little salt and potassium metabisulphite for
10 min-
MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition
utes. For 1 liter of water, add 20 grams of salt and 3 grains of potassium
metabisulphite. This is done to prevent blackening of the vegetables.
Strain and arrange the potato slices on a tray or polythene sheet. Cover
with muslin cloth and place in the sun for several days till completely dry.
Notes Store in air-tight containers or pack in poythene bags.
Note : Raw banana, tapioca can also be dehydreated similarly.

ii) Pickling with salts, spices and/or oil

There will rarely be any house in India where pickles are not eaten. Recall
the pickles that you ate this season.

Do you know how salt, spices and oil help in preserving

the pickles? We know that every foodstuff has some
amount of water in it, which helps micro-organisms to
grow. When salt and spices are added, they draw out the
water from the foodstuff, thus micro-organisms cannot
grow. Moreover, they improve the flavour of the food
be- ing preserved. Spices such as mustard, pepper and
hing
(asafoetida) are used in pickling. Fig. 9.2: Pickling

You must have observed that the pickle is usually covered with a layer of
oil. Why? This is because, the layer of oil prevents the foodstuff from
com- ing in contact with the air, thus preventing the entry of micro-
organisms, which can spoil the pickle.

Foodstuffs that can be pickled are lemon, mango, amla, carrot, ginger,
cau- liflower red/green chilli, etc. You can surely add many more to this
list.
The process of preparing a pickle is simple.

Wash the veg- Dry Cut/slice on a Mix with salt and spices
etable/fruit thoroughly clean board.

Close with a tight Cover with saltPlace in a dry sterilised container

fitting lid and store and/or oil

Here is a receipe for sweet lemon pickle. You can prepare other pickles in
the same way as explained above.
 Food Preservation MODULE - 2
Foods and Nutrition
SWEET LEMON PICKLE
Ingredients Quantity
Lemon 1 kg
Salt 150 g
Black salt 100 g Notes
Cloves (powdered) 2 No.
Ajwain 40 g
Hing 1g
Black pepper powder 40 g
Sugar 200 g
Method

Select round, fully mature and juicy lemons. Wash well and dry. Cut each
lemon into 8 pieces. Put in a clean jar. Add all the spices and sugar. Shake
well. Keep the pickle in sun for 10-12 days, shaking it occasionally.
(iii) Making jam, jellies and murabbas
You can make jam by boiling the fleshy part (pulp) of the fruit with suffi-
cient quantity of sugar to a thick mixture. You can make jams with apple,
mango, papaya, pineapple, raw mango, etc.
Jellies are prepared by boiling the fruit with or without
water and straining it. Then the strained and clear juice
extract containing pectin (helps to set the jelly) and
acid is mixed with sugar and the mixture is boiled. It is
boiled to a stage at which it will set to a clear jelly-like
sub- stance. A well made jelly is transparent, well set
and has the original flavour of the fruit. Guava,
pineapple and
orange can be easily converted into jelly. Fig. 9.3

Murabbas are made by boiling the fruit in sugar solution, till they become
soft. Murabbas are popular for eating with chapatis, puris, etc.
Let us now learn how to make a mixed fruit jam and amla murabba.

MIXED FRUIT JAM AMLA MURABBA

Ingredients Quantity
Ingredients Quantity
Mixed fruit pulp 500 g
Ingredients
Sugar 500 g
Citric acid 4 g (1 teaspoon) Amla 1 kg
Water 100 ml Sugar 1.5 kg
Fruit essence few flrops
Red colour 1/2 teaspoon.
 MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition
Procedure Procedure
1. Wash the fruits, peel them and cut them into 1. Prick amla with
small pieces. You can use banana, apple, sapota fork and steam
(cheeku), mango, etc. cook for 5 minutes

Notes 2. Convert fruit pieces into pulp by mashing 2. Add 50% of sugar
them manually or in a mixer. Boil 3. the apple (750 gm) to amla
peels and seeds in 100 ml of water. Strain it and and mix well on
add the water to fruit pulp (This will extract the first day.
pectin from peel. Pectin is a substance which 3. On the second day
helps in setting the jam). 4. Boil fruit pulp for see that the sugar
about 15 minutes. Add sugar. Continue boiling dissolves, if not re-
with constant stirring. 5. After about 30 minutes, move amla from
when the mass starts thick- ening, add citric acid the syrup and heat
dissolved in small amount of water. 6. Continue till the sugar
boiling till the pulp falls from the spoon in the dissolves. Cool the
form of a flake or sheet. When you put a small syrup and add
amount of this into a plate of cold water, it will amla and left over
settle in one place. This shows the end point or sugar (750 gm).
the point at which the jam is ready. 7. Remove
the jam from fire and add essence and colour. 8. 4. Repeat on the third
Fill hot jam into clean, sterilized bottles and cool day. Add all the
the bottles. While filling hot jam, place the left over sugar.
bottles over a wooden board. 9. If you want to 5. Amla murraba is
keep the jam for a long time, pour a layer of ready for use after
melted paraffin wax over it and cover the bottles 15 days.
tightly. This wax can be removed at the time of
use.

(iv) Bottling of squashes

A glass of cold lemon squash is always welcome in summers. Lemon
squash or any other squash can be easily prepared at home. For preparing
squash, fruit juice is mixed with sugar syrup. The quantity of sugar
depends on the quantity of fruit juice. Squashes should be stored in bottles
with a narrow mouth and tight fitting lid. You can prepare squashes with
lemon, orange, mango, grapes, pineapple, etc. .
Let us now learn how squashes are made.
General procedure for making squash
1. Extract the fruit juice and filter it through a sieve.
2. Make a syrup with sugar and water.
3. Add citric acid to the syrup and remove from flame when a white
layer forms at the top.
 Food Preservation MODULE - 2
Foods and Nutrition
4. Cool the syrup and filter it.
5. Mix with the juice extracted, add colour and essence.
6. Add potassium metabisulphite (KMS) or sodium benzoate. Mix and
put in sterilized bottles immediately leaving some head space. (space
between top of the liquid and the bottle cap). Notes

Note :
(1) To extract juice from grapes cook for 5-10 min and pass through the
strainer.
(2) To extract juice from pineapple, cut into pieces (without removing the
skin) grate and squeeze with muslin cloth.

Ingredients Fruit Juice

Lemon Orange Lichi Mango Pineapple

Fruit juice (kg) 1 1 1 1 1

Sugar (kg) 1½ 1½ 1½ 1 1½
Water (kg) ¾ ¾ ¾ 1 ¾
Citric acid (gm) — 25 25 30 25
Colour — 1 tsp — — 1 tsp
Essence — 1 tsp — — 1 tsp
KMS ½ tsp ½ tsp ½ tsp ½ tsp ½ tsp
(tsp - tea spoon)
(KMS - Potassium metabisulphite.)

Sterilization of bottles: For preserving any product, it is essential that

bottles should be properly sterilized. For this, fill a big vessel with
water in which bottles can be dipped. Bottles should be left in boiling
water for 20 minutes. Put a layer of cloth at the bottom. Place bottles
over it. After sterilization, keep the bottles well covered so that they do
not get con- taminated again.

(v) Freezing
Freezing fruits and vegetables in season can be of great benefit as they can
be available when they are not in season. For example, freezing of peas in
winter when they are cheap and of good quality, can be of great use in
sum- mer when they are very expensive. Let us learn how freezing of peas
is done.
MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition
FREEZING OF PEAS
Select fresh, tender peas and shell them. Take sufficient water to
completely immerse the peas. Add 10 gms of salt for every 1 litre of water
and boil. Add peas to the boiling water and leave for 2 minutes. Drain and
cool immedi- ately. Pack in small polythene bags, remove air by pressing
Notes and seal the bags. This is done so that no micro-organisms remain in the
packet. Place the packets in the freezer.
You can also freeze cauliflower, beans, carrots, capsicum, ladies finger,
green chana, corn, spinach, methi, etc. in the same way. A temperature of
180C is recommended for storage of frozen foods. The period during which
the food can be stored successfully varies with food and storage
temperature.

Activity 9.2 : Visit a market, find out the preservatives used in the
following products:

S.No Product Preservative used

1. Orange squash
2. Mango pickle
3. Guava jelly
4. Tomato sauce
5. Apple Jam

INTEXT QUESTIONS 9.2

1. The common preservative used in making squashes is:
(a) KS
(b) KSM
(c) KMS
2. Oil in pickles
(a) delays the action of micro-organisms.
(b) kills the micro-organisms.
(c) stops the action of micro-organisms.
(d) stops the action of enzymes.
3. Freezing preserves food because it
(a) delays the action of micro-organisms.
(b) kills the micro-organisms.
(c) stops the action of micro-organisms.
(d) stops the action of enzymes.
4. Write the steps for preparation of mango pickle.
5. Write the steps of freezing methi leaves.
 Food Preservation MODULE - 2
Foods and Nutrition

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT

Need and importance of Food preservation

Notes
Based on
Delaying action of
micro-organisms

Principles of Killing micro

food preservation organisms

Stopping action of
Done through enzymes

Household methods of
food preservation

Drying Pickling Making Bottling Freezing

jams, jellies squashes
murabbas

TERMINAL EXERCI1SE
l. What is food preservation?
2. Give four reasons why we should preserve food.
3. Suggest the best method to preserve the following foods and give one
reason for each selection:
(a) Orange juice
(b) Raw mango
(c) Apple
(d) Potato
(e) Carrots
 MODULE - 2 Food Preservation
Foods and Nutrition

ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTION

9.1 1. (c)
2. (a) Do not remove the peel
Notes
(b) Pack apples in polythene/aluminium foil.
(c) Keep in the refrigerator
(d) Make jam
3. Refer to text
9.2 1. (c) 2.(c) 3. (c)
4. Wash mangoes; wipe with clean cloth; cut into pieces; mix in
salt and spices; place in clean bottles; cover with oil; close with
tight fitting lid.
5. Wash methi well; pluck the leaves and tender stems; pack in
small polythene packets and seal; place in the freezer.
ANSWERS TO TERMINAL EXERCISE
1. Refer text
2. (a) To increase their shelf life
(b) To prepare new products
(c) To reduce the bulk of fruits and vegetables
(d) To prevent spoilage and wastage of food
3. (a) as squash
(b) as pickle
(c) as jam or jelly
(d) as wafers
(e) as pickle

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