STUDY OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD

PRESERVATIVES USED IN DIFFERENT FOODS

AVAILABLE IN MARKET

“A report submitted for the partial fulfillment of requirement for

the degree of National education board (NEB) in chemistry”

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

Supranjal Khadka (143) Anu Lohala
Reg no:793260041661 Department of chemistry,
Class: XII(C7) Khwopa Secondary school,
Dekocha-6,Bhaktapur
Date:2079/12/27
 Declaration

We hereby declare that the project work entitled “Study of different types of food
preservatives used in different foods available in market” submitted to the Department of
Chemistry, Khwopa Secondary School is an original piece of work carried out under the
supervision and guidance of Miss Anu Lohala, Department of Chemistry, Khwopa Secondary
School, Dekocha-06, Bhaktapur and is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the chemistry of grade 12. This project work report has not been submitted elsewhere for
the award of any degree.

……………………
Signature:
Name:Supranjal Khadka
Roll no:143
Class:XII “C7”

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 Letter of Approval

This project work entitled “Study of different types of food preservatives used in different
foods available in market” by Mr. Supranjal Khadka Roll no. 143 of Khwopa Secondary
School, Dekocha-06, Bhaktapur prepared under the supervision of Miss Anu Lohala
submitted for the partial fulfillment of prerequisite of chemistry of class 12 has been accepted.

……………………… ………………………………..

Supervisor Head of Department

Anu Lohala Rojeena Thusa

Department of chemistry Department of chemistry

Khwopa Secondary School Khwopa Secondary School

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 Acknowledgement

We are thankful to all those who have helped us directly or indirectly with this project.
Foremost, we would like to thank Principal Prakash Kumar Shrestha and Vice Principal Laxmi
Prasad Karmacharya of Khwopa Secondary School for giving this opportunity to carry out our
project

We would like to thank our project teacher Anu Lohala & the entire chemistry department for
their prompt assistance, guidance and support during this project. We would like to thank the
head of the Chemistry department Mrs. Rojina Thusa for her guidance while developing
project and also for organizing the project schedules.We would also like to thank teachers Ms.
Ayusha Hyunmikha and Mr. Ashok Bajracharya from the chemistry department for providing
us with adequate help in laboratory works. We would also like to thank laboratory teachers Mr.
Parlin Yakami and Mr. Sabin Suwal for their assistance.

We would also like to offer our gratitude toward some of our friends who helped throughout
our project development phase by providing several references regarding different links and
making project report which provided us with further insight upon our project.

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 Abstract

The following study contains different preservatives found in the market. The study deals with
food additives that play an important role in making foods last longer or taste better. The study
has coined with the usage and effects of preservatives. Specifically, preservatives help to
control and prevent the deterioration of food, providing protection against spoilage from
microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, yeast, moulds), life-threatening botulism and other organisms
that can cause food poisoning (antimicrobial function). High-risk foods such as meat, seafood,
dairy, and cheese serve as a breeding ground for potentially dangerous micro-organisms;
therefore, the addition of a preservative is usually required to ensure food safety. Besides the
use of food additive preservatives, foods can also be preserved by different processing methods
like canning, dehydration (drying), smoking, salting, freezing, and the use of packaging. Some
practical examples include the canning of jams and tomato sauce, drying fresh fruits to make
dried fruit, and adding salt to cabbage to make it last longer. In this study, however, we will
focus on food additive preservatives only. Without the addition of a preservative, certain foods
may turn rancid or change in color. Ultimately, preservatives protect the quality of foods and
beverages, reduce food cost, improve convenience, lengthen shelf-life, and reduce food waste.

Packaged food and beverages are consumed all over the world for their nutritional value,
durability, thirst quenching properties, stimulating effect and for their medicinal values. With
changing lifestyle and requirements, people now often prefer packaged food products over
homemade products. The study represents the usages of different forms of preservatives in
packaged food industry along with their beneficial and adverse effects and also highlights
their antioxidant and antimicrobial potential to serve the consumer’s needs.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS:
TITLE PAGE NUMBER
Declaration i

Letter of Approval ii

Acknowledgement iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents v

✓ INTRODUCTION 1-2

✓ OBJECTIVES 3

✓ METHODOLOGY 4

✓ OBSERVATION 5-11

✓ RESULT AND DISCUSSION 12

✓ REFERENCE 13

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 Introduction

A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products,

beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other
products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes. In
general, preservation is implemented in two modes, chemical and physical. Chemical
preservation entails adding chemical compounds to the product. Physical preservation entails
processes such as refrigeration or drying. Preservative food additives reduce the risk of food
borne infections, decrease microbial spoilage, and preserve fresh attributes and nutritional
quality. Some physical techniques for food preservation include dehydration, UV-C radiation,
freeze-drying, and refrigeration. Chemical preservation and physical preservation techniques are
sometimes combined.

Food preservation is about the ways and means which help to preserve food. Food spoils from
bacteria if it is not treated. For thousands of years, humans have used methods of preserving
food, so that they can store food to eat later. The simplest methods of preserving food, such as
drying strips of fish or meat in the hot sun have been used for thousands of years, and they are
still used today by indigenous peoples. The other ancient method is to use salt, and often drying
and salting are done together. Food is spoiled because microorganisms change it. There are five
basic techniques which make food last longer:

• Killing the microorganisms, or preventing them from multiplying

• Contact of microorganisms with food is prevented
• Certain additives prevent or slow the growth of microorganisms; this is often called
curing
Many common methods use several of these approaches at the same time. For example, pickles
preserved in a jar are heated then put in a mixture of vinegar and brine. Fruit jams and jellies are
heated and mixed with a large amount of sugar. Some preserved fruit is heated and then mixed
with alcohol (for example, Brandy) and a large amount of sugar. Smoked hams are cured in brine
and then exposed to the smoke from burning wood chips.

Pre-studied constituents of Food Preservatives:

Food preservatives constitute a group of compounds of widely different molecular structures;
they are organic and inorganic substances with different functional groups and tendencies to
form ions. There are no procedures that are generally applicable to the analysis of preservatives
as a class of food additive; the procedures are specific to the preservative being analyzed. The
lowest concentrations of commonly used preservatives are of the order of a few milligrams per
kilogram of food, and, with few exceptions, recommended or statutory methods of analysis are
designed to give a good accuracy at levels of 10 to > 1000 mg of preservative per kilogram of
food. The question of the lower limit of detection is rarely an issue, unless it is desired to use

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small sample sizes, e.g., < 1 g, or to determine whether or not a food or its ingredients had been
treated with a preservative. For solid foods, small sample sizes often lead to non representative
sampling and should be avoided. Not all the procedures described constitute official methods of
analysis. Frequently, for routine analysis, a food manufacturer would use a rapid or cheap
analytical technique standardized against an official method. The official status of given
procedures varies from country to country.

Organic and inorganic acid preservatives may be added in the form of the undissociated acid or a
variety of salts. In food, the ionic composition is determined largely by concentration and pH, but
it is generally impossible to predict this accurately for any given situation. In order to avoid
complications with the specification of the amount of preservative in a food, this is usually
referred to as the weight-for-weight concentration of the undissociated acid, e.g., benzoic acid,
sorbic acid, or sulfur dioxide. Nitrite and nitrate levels are expressed in terms of the weight of the
sodium salt.

Fig. Classification of Preservation Process.

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 Objectives

1. General objectives:
Generally, the objective of this project is to get the information about the different preservatives
used in the market and in different household items. Our market is saturated by many sorts of
preservatives that are used to keep food items safe. We wanted to know more about how these
preservatives worked and how they were being used. We also wanted to study about the importance
of different types of chemical used in the food market.

2. Specific objectives:
The specific objective of our project was to go in detail about the various types of preservation
method and detailing the needs of the preservatives in the system. We wanted to know regarding
how the usage of such food preservatives fundamentally affected the state of food: its color,
nutritional values and especially its contribution for the human health. We wanted to explore upon
how usage of these preservatives affected the consumers.

We also wanted to study the chemistry behind such substances especially regarding their structures,
compositions and especially their interaction with other chemicals that makes them retain such
ability to preserve other food items. The major factor of this study was also to boost our
understanding of the best methods for food preservation and to check how the market was doing
in terms of overall state of usage of these preservatives.

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 Methodology

• Direct Method:
For the sake of this study we looked into various contents found in the food and beverage
found in the market. For this method there was study regarding the preservatives that were
mentioned in the label of packages. We also asked some producers to know directly about the
preservatives that were used in their product. In this way we conducted direct study regarding
the different food preservatives found in the market.

• Indirect Method:
For further study regarding the preservatives found in the market and proper chemical
classifications of the preservatives the indirect method of internet searching and general
book study. For this different websites and research paper as enlisted in the reference were
studied. For further assistance books as mentioned in the reference section was studied.

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 Observation

Different sorts of preserved foods available in the market were studied and through the help of
different sources they were classified and the preservatives used in such foods were further
studied as presented. Food preservation is seen in almost every consumed item in today’s world.

Generally, preservation is done in two modes, that is chemical and physical respectively. Chemical
protection deals with adding chemical compounds to the product. Physical maintenance deals with
processes like refrigeration or drying up of products. Preservative food additions shrink the risk of
food borne infections, narrow the chances of microbial spoilage, and preserve fresh characteristics
and nutritional quality of the food. Some physical processes for food preservation consist of
dehydration, UV radiation, drying by freezing, and refrigeration manufacture industry.

Chemical Food Preservatives

If we pay attention to the ingredient labels of different food packages, we will frequently come
across the names of different types of chemical preservatives. Another common chemical
preservative that we will commonly come across on food packet labels is sorbic acid. All of these
chemical preservatives either inhibit the activity of microbes such as bacteria or destroy them.
Chemical preservatives boost food product usage to a substantial level.

Examples of preservatives used in food

The following are some examples of different types of preservatives:

• Potassium Nitrate
• Erythorbic Acid
• Benzoic acid
• Sodium Benzoate
• Calcium Sorbate

 Sodium Benzoate
Sodium benzoate is a food preservative that is labeled by the
E number E211 in several processed food items available in
the market. It is specifically added to prolong the shelf life of
acidic food items such as vinegar, cold drinks, fruit juices,
yogurt, etc. In chemical terms, Sodium benzoate is salt with the chemical formula C6H5COONa,
and it is an odorless crystalline powder produced by reacting benzoic acid with sodium
hydroxide. Sodium benzoate acts as a preservative by inhibiting the growth of several
microorganisms including moths, fungi, and bacterias. In particular, sodium benzoate gets
absorbed into the cells of growing microorganisms and shifts the pH of the intracellular water to
make it acidic. This, in turn, decreases the anaerobic fermentation of glucose inside the cell of

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the microorganism, thereby inhibiting its growth. Apart from food items, sodium benzoate is also
used as a preservative in cosmetics and personal care items, such as hair products, baby wipes,
toothpaste, and mouthwash. Although sodium benzoate is safe to ingest on its own, it has been
connected to several health risks when combined with vitamin C, which has the potential to
convert it into the well-known carcinogen benzene.

 Nitrogen Gas
Most of us are familiar with a bag of chips filled with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen, an inert gas
accounting for 79% of the atmosphere, is one of the most widely used preservatives in the food
industry. The food companies use this distilled nitrogen in their packaging processes to prolong
the shelf life and quality of their products. This method is known as nitrogen flushing in
technical terms. Bacterias, such as mold and mildew, rely on oxygen for their growth. Nitrogen
flushing is the method in which oxygen-rich air is flushed out of the bags and nitrogen gas is
immediately filled as a preservative. Unlike oxygen, inert nitrogen does not react and spoils the
food. Moreover, Nitrogen also provides cushioning to the chips and prevents them from
undergoing any wear and tear during their transit.

 Nitrate and Nitrites

In our previous example, we discussed that nitrogen is used to get rid of oxygen to preserve food;
however, the compounds of nitrogen and oxygen known as nitrates and nitrites are widely used
in the food industry as preservatives. Nitrates and nitrites are naturally occurring molecules in the
human body and some foods; however, they are added to processed food items like bacon to
preserve and extend their shelf life.. Nitrite inhibits the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a
harmful bacterium, and it may also have antimicrobial properties against other pathogenic
microorganisms. Furthermore, nitrite develops the flavor and color of cured meats while also
preventing rancidity, off-odors, and off-flavors from developing during storage. The
characteristic pink color of preserved meats is also due to nitrite. The most commonly used
nitrites and nitrates are sodium and potassium nitrite and sodium and potassium nitrate. These
substances have been attributed to E numbers E250, E249, E251, and E252 respectively, which
can be easily found on the ingredient label of several food items including bacon, ham, sausages,
and hot dogs.
 Sulfites

Sulfites are compounds encompassing a variety of

food preservatives that essentially contain SO2. As a
food preservative, sulfur dioxide acts as a
broadspectrum antibacterial, inhibiting bacteria,
yeasts, and molds. It is prominently used in
winemaking to prevent malolactic fermentation. Soft
drinks, juices, jams, jellies, sausages, and dried or
pickled fruits

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and vegetables are a few food items that contain these chemicals to prevent spoiling and
discoloration. In winemaking, sulfites are a natural byproduct of the fermentation process that
works as a preservative against certain yeast and bacteria. It plays an important role in preventing
oxidization and maintaining a wine’s freshness. Because some grapes have already spilled juice,
the grapes aren’t rinsed before crushing, which could dilute the high-quality free-run juice. Since
unwashed skins contain bacteria and wild yeast that might impact fermentation in unpredictable
ways, some winemakers choose to employ sulfur dioxide before loading them into the
crusher/de-stemmer. Sulfur can be added again during racking or whenever the wine is likely to
be exposed to oxygen. Despite international standards, winemakers avoid adding sulfur because
of its disagreeable odor and impact on wine’s natural development.

 Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)

Ascorbic acid is an organic molecule that occurs

naturally and has antioxidant effects. It is a white solid
that can seem yellowish in contaminated samples. It
readily dissolves in water and produces moderately
acidic solutions. One kind of vitamin C is ascorbic
acid. Plants, particularly citrus fruits, tomatoes, and
green vegetables, contain ascorbic acid. Scurvy is
caused by a nutrient deficit in the human diet.
Ascorbic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium
salts are commonly used as antioxidant food additives.
Because these chemicals are water-soluble, they are incapable of protecting non-polar lipids
from oxidation. Ascorbic acid fat-soluble esters
containing long-chain fatty acids can be employed as dietary antioxidants for this purpose. Many
fruits and vegetables contain ascorbic acid, which is also produced by the kidneys of some
animals. Humans cannot generate ascorbic acid and must acquire it from their diet, or they may
develop a deficit causing scurvy. Ascorbic acid is manufactured industrially via a multistep
process including microorganisms that break down glucose and create ascorbic acid as a
byproduct.

 Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)

When it comes to the preservation of food items that contain fats, one of the most common
choices of preservatives is Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA). It is an antioxidant consisting of a
mixture of two isomeric organic compounds, 2-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole and 3-tert-
butyl4hydroxyanisole, and it exists as a white waxy solid with a faint characteristic odor at
normal room temperature. It was first synthetically manufactured in the late 1940s, and since
1947, it has been added to foods to preserve fats and oils and keep them from becoming rancid.
Moreover, it is also used to preserve and prolong the shelf life of food items that are cooked in

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fats because of its high thermal stability and antioxidant activity in baked food items. The
common food items that contain BHA as a preservative include butter, lard, biscuits, beer,
sweets, vegetable oils, snacks, glazed fruits, nuts, chewing, and meat products. On the
ingredients label of such food items, BHA is denoted by the E number E320. Besides food items,
BHA with a slightly different ratio of 2-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole and 3-tert-butyl-4-
hydroxyanisole is commonly used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Nonetheless, the
very properties that make BHA an effective food preservative are also implicated to show
adverse health effects, and therefore, the use of BHA for preservation is still under review by
food associations around the world.
 Polyphosphates (E452)
Polyphosphates are a class of polymeric compounds in
which the structural unit phosphate is linked together by
sharing oxygen atoms. The most commonly used
polyphosphates in the food industry for preservation are
Sodium polyphosphate (E452(i)), potassium
polyphosphate (E452(ii)), sodium calcium polyphosphate
(E452(iii)), and calcium polyphosphate (E452(iv)).
They’re utilized to increase binding characteristics, limit
moisture loss during heating and thawing, and keep items
from drying out. This happens, for example, when meat sandwich fillings are cooked at a high
temperature or when frozen chicken is reheated and loses a lot of fluid. Polyphosphates
also improve the appearance of meat products in the freezer cabinet by reducing
rancidity. Polyphosphates also help to improve shelf life by reducing chemical and
microbiological degradation.

Antioxidants in Food Preservation

Antioxidants used for food preservations have two categories – Naturally occurring antioxidants
and artificial antioxidants. Both of them are used as food preservatives. Oxidation readily affects
the quality of food and shortens its life by incredibly modifying its semblance, colour, sensory
attributes, and nutritive quality.

Common Antioxidants in Food Preservation

Some examples of potential natural antioxidants in food preservation and their sources are
tocopherols (found in nuts and seeds), ascorbic and citric acids (found in citrus fruits), carotenoids
(found in fruits and vegetables) and phenolic compounds (found in herbs and spices, grape seeds).
Plant phenolic extracts are prevalently used in the preservation of seafood, meat, fats and oils.
Ascorbic acid is extensively used in the preservation of juices, cereals, jams, treated meats and
some canned foods. At the same time, tocopherols have their applications in the preservation of
grains, meat and poultry products, butter, oils, and other dairy products. Rosemary extract is
predominately used as an antioxidant preservative in the continents of Europe and North America.

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Role of Salt In Food Preservation
Salt commonly plays a vital role in the fermentation of foods. Fermentation is a common
phenomenon for preserving foods, in which fresh foods are converted to desirable foods that can
be kept for more extended periods than their new part for the actions of particular microbes. The
common belief for salt in food preservation is that salt kills bacteria, but for the actual matter of
fact, salt does not preserve food directly. Instead, it has to play an essential role in a critical process
called osmosis. Salt can always play a role in the development of physical attributes of foods that
are beneficial for processing or developing final product qualities. For example, salt levels play a
significant role to control the adhesive properties of some doughs, which is the process of some
baked goods.
Salt can play an essential role in the development of physical properties of foods that are beneficial
for the process and progress of final product qualities. As an example, salt levels play an essential
role in controlling the stickiness of some doughs which eases the processing of some baked
materials.

Fig. Chemical Structures of some common Preservatives and Sweetners.

Harmful Food Preservatives

Food additives are used to stop bacterial growth to keep the food fresh. Although, there are certain
preservatives in food that are harmful if taken in more than the prescribed limits. Certain harmful
food preservatives are Benzoates, Butyrates, and Caramel.

Some people are sensitive to particular food additives and may have reactions like hives or
diarrhoea. This doesn’t mean that all foods containing additives need to be automatically treated
with suspicion. All foods are made up of chemicals and food additives are not always less safe
than naturally occuring chemicals. Many of the food additives used by the food industry also occur
naturally within foods that people eat every day. For example, MSG is found naturally in parmesan

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cheese, sardines and tomato in significantly greater quantities than the MSG present as a food
additive. People with food allergies and intolerances are also often sensitive to chemicals found
naturally in certain foods, such as nuts or shellfish.

Importance of Preservatives
Preservatives play an essential role in many products used every day to help prevent the growth of
harmful microorganisms and to protect products from contamination or spoilage. They are made
of natural chemicals such as salt or alcohol, and they can also be man-made, or synthetic chemicals.
Natural or organic chemicals are not certainly healthier than synthetic or man-made chemicals. In
reality, artificial preservatives have long been used in food preparation because they are effective
in small amounts. They include sodium nitrate, sodium benzoate and propionate. Antimicrobial
preservatives in cosmetics and personal care products help prevent the growth of molds, yeasts
and bacteria, guarding against contamination that can cause irritation or infections. Antioxidant
preservatives also can help keep personal care products from spoiling by suppressing reactions
that can occur when certain ingredients in a cosmetic or personal care product combine with
oxygen in the presence of light, heat and some metals. Food has a natural expiration process that
is the result of bacteria, fungus, and molds taking over the food. By adding preservatives, whether
they be natural, artificial, or a combination of both it prevents these foods from expiring as fast.
Preservatives are also used to help keep the food color, shape, smell, and size which can make the
food item more appealing to the consumer. While artificial and natural preservatives serve a similar
purpose to extend the shelf life of products the way in which they’re used varies depending on the
product the preservative is added to. For instance, preservatives added to makeup products serve
a different purpose than those that are added to food. Artificial food preservatives in baking are
used to make the products withstand storage. These types of additives also help commercial
manufacturers keep the quality and texture of baking products during transportation. Microbes that
cause spoiling are undesirable bacteria, fungi, and yeasts that can grow in our food products. These
microorganisms feed off the foods’ nutrients and can cause serious harm to humans if consumed.
Without preservatives, bacteria such as listeria and botulism can invade our foods and if consumed
by humans, can cause us to become critically ill. he use of food preservatives is often more cost-
effective than other methods of preserving food, such as refrigeration or freezing. This is especially
important for developing countries where access to refrigeration and other preservation methods
may be limited. Food preservatives can also improve the quality of food by preventing
discoloration, rancidity, and other forms of spoilage that can affect taste and texture. Overall, food
preservatives play an important role in ensuring the safety, quality, and availability of our food
supply. However, it's important to use them in moderation and to follow safety guidelines to ensure
that they do not have any adverse effects on human health.

The following chart shows the overall usage of different preservatives alongside its tolerance
value in composition.

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 Result and Discussion

During the preparation of this project, we got to know about different types of
preservatives and how their discovery changed the world. We also discussed the
positive and negative effects of preservatives. From this project we were able to
strengthen our knowledge beyond the course. Along with this we got to know about
the different types of chemical preservatives used in the market. We also got to know
about the ways of food preservations and extended needs of the food preservatives
in day to day life.

From the above study we have known about the usage of different preservatives in
different situations. The study widened our knowledge regarding the contents of the
food products and how common foods are preserved by different methods. Like: We
got to know how phosphorus preservatives were used in the fresh meats and how
BHF were used to preserve different packaged products like chips.

In this way there was information regarding the topic attained via various
perspectives from this study.

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 Reference and Assistance Sources
The project work assigned by Khwopa Secondary School was knowledgeable and a
completely interesting project which was new to us and something fun to learn too.
So beyond our own capacitive thinking and knowledge, we took bit assistance of
external sources for extra knowledge and project based entities. Some of the
sources we used are listed below:

1) Internet Sources:

• https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/preservatives-keeping-our-
foodssafefresh
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/food-preservative
• https://www.vedantu.com/chemistry/chemicals-used-asfoodpreservatives
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservatives

2) Offline Sources/Books:
• Heritage publication Basic Chemistry book by P.N Wagle, NM Khadka,
SD Gautam, NR Adhikari.
• Asmita’s Modern Approach to Chemistry-II for Grade XII by Bishan Datt
Bhatt, Hem Raj Panta, Tanka Mukhiya & Deval Prasad Bhattarai.

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