Food Preservation: Methods of Preserving Food

The nutrients that give us energy and help us maintain good health also cause our food to spoil. There are innumerable micro-organisms in the atmosphere that derive their nutrition from these nutrients by breaking them into simpler forms. As these minute life forms start disintegrating the nutrients, they set off the process of food spoilage. With the knowledge of the role that micro-organisms play in spoiling food, a number of methods of food preservation have been developed by man. All these methods work by altering conditions like temperature, availability of water or oxygen in the food, or in the environment in which the food is stored. Changing or altering these factors hinders the growth of these minute organisms, and hence prevents food spoilage