FOOD PROCESSING 1

CHAPTER 3: PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PROCESSING

Lesson 1 : SALTING, CURING AND

SMOKING______________
SALTING – is an effective osmotic agents that can draw water from food
materials such as fish, thus lowering its water activity and effecting
preservation.
• However, longer products shelf life can only be achieved
when the salt concentration is over 25% salt.
• The objective of salting is to insure that salt penetration is
rapid enough to lower the water activity in the deepest part
of the fish followed by the equilibrium of the salt in the fish
(specifically in the water portion of the fish) and the
surrounding of salt solution (Brine)
• Another kind of salt preservation is Salt Fermentation which is the
process involved in the making of patis and bagoong (Pickling and
Fermentation).
Salting Process
• The salting method applied depends on the size and composition of the fish.
• The common methods are:
o Dry salting – is rubbed on the fish o Brine salting – the fish is immersed
in a concentrated brine.
o Combination or Hybrid Method – an initial rub followed by immersed in
the brine that subsequently form as water is drawn by the salt from the
fish body.
• Various methods of salting is applied depending on the objective of the salting
process:
o In products like tinapa, the objective of salting is mainly for flavoring with
preservation being achieved by smoking and chilling or freezing. In the
case the brine concentration is more dilute and the immersion time brief.
▪ The secondary effect is the elution of the salt-soluble protein from
the fish muscles which makes an attractive glossy pellicle on the
surface of the fish as moisture evaporated on standing. This
method of salting is also used in marinated products.
▪ Immersion in concentrated brine is also called Pickling. This is
done for longer term preservation and is advantageous for fatty
fishes because oxygen from the atmosphere is restricted by
immersion thus retarding rancidity.
o Some fish, usually bigger non fatty fishes, are split opened out flat and
salted. The salted split fishes are layered and that forms are allowed to
drain off. This is called kench curing (Filipinos call it daing)
o The other method is modification of the kench curing where the brine that
forms is allowed to collect and the fish kept immersed in this brine.
Spoilage of Salted Fish

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• The most significant spoilage microorganisms are Halophiles which require 10%
salt for growth and exhibit pink discoloration in the fish.
• Cases of food poisoning have been associated with pink spoilage fish because the
toxin producing Staphylococcus Aureus may sometimes be associated with
microorganisms that cause pink spoilage.

CURING – refers to several of food preservation and

flavoring processes especially in meat and fish by the addition
of combination of salt, sugar and nitrate or nitrite.
• Meat curing was used originally as a means of
preserving meat during the time of plenty to
carry over to times of scarcity.
• Many curing process involves smoking.
• Cured meat was meant to be shelf stable, so
these were heavily salted. Today many cured
meat products are only mildly salted and
require chilling storage.

MEAT CURING INGREDIENTS

➢ The basic curing ingredients are salt; sugar (or other
sweetener) and nitrite. Other ingredients used includes: phosphate,
spices,sodium erythorbate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, monosodium
glutamate and carrageenan.
▪ SALT – is basic to all curing mixture. Its preservative action is due to its
effect of lowering the water activity and inhibition of microbial growth.
• It is flavoring materials and also increases the gel strength of
sausage mixture. However, using salt alone in curing results in
rather dry and dark products.
• Only food grade salt should be used in curing. Salt is added either
as a dry cure or a pickle cure. The pickle cure can either be soaking
solution or an injecting solution.
▪ SUGAR – is added to the curing mixture to balance flavor. Sugar counters
the harshness of salt.
• It also has a softening effect on the cured products by preventing
the removal of moisture on the surface.
• It also enhances the flavor of cured meats and color especially in
caramelizing of the meat products.
▪ NITRATES/NITRITES – nitrite is effective curing agent and nitrate is a
source of nitrite. Functions of nitrite are as follows: o Stabilize the color of
the lean tissues. o Contributes the characteristic flavor of cured meats.
o Inhibits bacteria responsible for spoilage and food
poisoning particularly Clostridium Botulinum.
o Retard development of rancidity. Cured Meat Formation
o The attractive pink color of cured meat is due to the

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action of nitrite and myoglobin, the natural pigment in

meat,
▪ Red meats such as beef and carabeef contains more myoglobin than do
pork and poultry. Myoglobin molecules contains iron porphyrin
compound called heme. In the center of heme is a molecule of iron. When
the iron is in the ferrous state, myoglobin can bind water.

Cured Meat Color o The sodium nitrate is first reduced to sodium nitrite then to nitric oxide
before it can be useful in the curing reaction.
▪ Sodium nitrate is reduced to sodium nitrite by microorganism present on
meats
▪ Sodium nitrite is reduced to nitrite acid in the presence of an acidic
environment (e.g. by fermentation)
▪ Nitrous acid forms nitric oxide. Nitric oxide reacts with myoglobin to
form a red color.

➢ NITROSAMINES – are compounds which can form when nitrites combines

with amines, a natural components resulting to breakdown of proteins.
▪ There has been concern over potential health risks from nitrosamines in
cured meat products.
▪ Most cured meat produces do not contains nitrosamines.
▪ Salitre/ Potassium Nitrate have been disallowed by BFAD to be used in
any cured meat products.
• The rationale for the prohibition is because it is very easy to
overuse.
• Instead, curing salt such Praque Powder which contains more
ordinary salt than nitrite is recommended.
• The use of salt as a carrier for nitrate and the identification of
curing salt as pink or light orange are safety measures to prevent
overuse than can be highly toxic.

OTHER OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS IN CURED MEATS

• PHOSPHATE – have wide application in the meat processing industry.
- Added to increase water holding capacity and consequently the
yield of the finished products.
- The water retention property is due to 2 actions, the raising of the
pH and the unfolding of the muscle proteins to accommodate
more water-binding sites
- The advantages includes, reduction in cooking losses,
improvement in sliceability, retention of flavor and juiciness.
- Retards development of rancidity. The permissible maximum
concentration of residual phosphate in meat products.

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• SODIUM ASCORBIC AND ERYTHORBATE – there reductants reacts with nitrite

to give nitric oxide, thus fastening development of the pink-red color in cured
meat in cured sausages.
• POTASSIUM SORBATE – is an anti-microbial agent, particularly effective in
inhibiting mold growth.
• MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE – is used to enhance the flavor of meat products
and although its effect on cured meat flavors is not widely recognized, it is
nevertheless used quite extensively in many Philippine cured products.
• HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN – is added to many cured meat products
particularly sausages both emulsion and non-emulsion types to increase protein
content and yield. It is also used in ham particularly in extended ham
formulations.
• CARAGEENAN - is a naturally occurring carbohydrate extracted from red
seaweeds. Its function as gelling agents, stabilizers, texturants, thickener and
viscosifier. It is added in ham pump solutions and directly in sausages and meat
loaf formulations.
• SODIUM AND POTASSIUM LACTATE – these additives are used to extend the
shelf life; enhance intrinsic product safety by controlling food borne pathogenic
bacteria such as E. coli., C. botulinum, and L. monocytogenes and protects meat
flavor.
• SPICES – includes a wide assemblage of true spices, herbs and vegetable bulbs.
True Spice – refers to genuine natural spices that includes dried rhizomes, barks,
flowers or their parts and fruits or seeds of different parts which contains
aromatic and pungent substances and used for seasoning of meat products
Natural Spice – can be utilized whole but usually they are previously
ground.
Extractives – includes essential and oleoresins.

MEAT CURING METHODS

• Curing is carried out at refrigeration temperature (2.2 ˚C/36 ˚F to 4 ˚C/40 ˚F) at
colder temperature meat will not cure properly. Warmer temperatures encourage
growth of spoilage microorganism.
DRY CURING – involves applying the cure mix directly on the meat.
Once the blend of curing salt, cure aids and seasoning (optional) is
prepared according to a recipe, it is rubbed on and into the meat at the
correct usage rate. The salted meat is then packed tightly into the cure
container.
- Depending on the size, the meat should be rearranged once or
twice a week so that the pieces from the middle end up on outside.
After curing the meat is rinsed to remove the excess salt and then
cooked.
- It is used in curing hams and bacon, tocino as well as smaller cuts
of meat.
BRINE CURING – is also popular for curing meat. This method is also
called Sweet Pickle Cure.

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- It includes mixing the curing salt with water to make a sweet

pickle cure solution. The meat is cured with the brine by injecting
the brine using a meat pump or by soaking the meat for specific
time.
COMBINATION CURE – this method combines the dry rub cure with
injection of brine solution. It used for curing hams.
- This method shortens the curing time required and reduces the
chance of spoilage because the cure process takes place inside and
outside the ham.
- Curing takes place in the refrigerator and the ham is cooked after
cooking.
SAUSAGE CURE METHOD – method for making cured sausage is
different from the curing methods described above.
- Curing salt and spices are mixed with ground meat. Curing takes
place in the refrigerator and the sausage is cooked after.

SMOKING – is the process of flavoring, cooking or preserving food

by exposing it to the smoke burning or smoldering plant material
most often wood. Meat and fish are commonly smoked foods.
• Improves the flavor and appearance, aids in reducing
mold growth, a well retards rancid flavor. Hams takes
place 24 hours to smoke and cook.
• The wood used to generate the smoke should be of
the hardwood species. Do not used resinous wood or
sawdust because the smoke from such wood will be sooty and strong smelling.
• Smoke is anti- microbial and anti-oxidant, but smoke alone is insufficient for
preserving food in practice.
• The main problem is that the smoke compounds adhere outer surfaces of the
food; the smoke does not actually penetrate far into the meat or fish.
• In modern times, almost all smoking is carried out for its flavor. This flavoring
can be purchased as liquid in most supermarkets to minimize the flavor of
smoking – not its preservative qualities – without actual cooking process.
• In the past, smoking was a useful preservation tool, in combination with other
techniques, most commonly salt-curing or drying.
For some long-smoked food, the smoking time also served to dry the
food. Heavily salted, long-smoked food fish can keep without
refrigeration for weeks or months.
Drying, curing or other techniques can render the interior of food
inhospitable to bacterial life, while the smoking gives the
vulnerable exterior surfaces an extra layer of protection.
Such heavily-preserved food usually requires a treatment
such as boiling in fresh water to make them palatable before
eating.
• There are three stages to accomplished smoked foods:
First Phase or Drying Stage

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- The smokehouse is heated to 52 ˚C/ 125 ˚F. All dampers are

opened to allow all access all excess moisture to escape and there
is no smoking during 8 hour period.
During the 8 hour stage, the dampers are partially closed and the
temperature on the house increased to 57 ˚C/135 ˚F, the smoke is
generated. The smoke is continued throughout the third stage.
The third Stage all the dampers are closed and the temperature in the
house is raised to 82 ˚C/180 ˚F. Hold this temperature until the product
temperature reaches 61 C/142 ˚F. (*Hams will requires further cooking
for full tenderization. The internal temperature is at least 64 ˚C/148 ˚F.)
Lesson 2 : DRYING AND DEHYDRATION___________________
DRYING OR DEHYDRATION – is a method of preservation that works by removing water
from the food which inhibits the growth of microorganism and hinders quality decay.
• Drying food using sun and wind to prevent spoilage has
been practiced since ancient times.
• Water is usually removed by evaporation (air drying, sun
drying, smoking or wind drying) but, in the case of freeze
drying food is first frozen and then the water is removed by
sublimation.
• Bacteria yeast and molds need water in the food to grow.
Drying effectively prevents them from surviving in the food.
o Types of Drying Method
▪ Sun Drying – method of drying food under
the sun, the oldest way of preserving food.
▪ Dehydration – drying in controlled
temperature and humidity and the food can
be dried at specific time (artificial drying)

ADVANTAGES OF DEHYDRATION TO SUN DRYING

1. The cooking quality of dehydrated foods is generally superior to sun dried ones –
dehydrated cooked fresh vegetables retain its flavor, color and other sensory
attributes.
2. Sanitary conditions can be controlled in dehydration than sun drying – in the open
field contamination from dust, insects, birds and rodents is constant hazard.
3. Dehydration is more expensive process than sun drying, but the superior quality of
dehydrated products commands higher value in the market – because of the
dehydration more complex process requiring equipment which cost relatively high.
There are increases in cost of production. Only by increasing the price of the
commodity can a manufacturer be able to sustain the business. On the part of
consumers what they get is a better quality product.
4. Dehydration is accomplished in considerably shorter time than drying – since in
dehydration there is control necessary adjustment can be made to hasten the drying
time of the commodity. Unlike in sun drying wherein the product is all dependent on

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the amount or intensity of the heat from the sun, therefore during the months when
the intensity of the heat is low, drying tales a long time.
5. Less space and fewer trays are needed for dehydration than for sun-drying which
requires wide outdoor space – the product to be dehydrated are placed in trays and
field inside a dehydrator with proper time and temperature will dry in predetermined
length of time. While in sun drying the product should be exposed to the sun rays to
ensure complete drying and in so doing, it requires a wide space to be able to dry a
considerable amount of product.
6. Drying obviously cannot be done during rainy season – many dehydrated methods
can operate regardless of the weather conditions because it is in the first place an
indoor operation unlike sun drying.
7. Yield from dehydrated is usually higher than Sun drying – this is attributed to loss of
sugar in sun drying due to respiration and fermentation. Also, because of lack of
control in the sun drying process unnecessary losses occur like too much moisture
and volatile compound.
8. Certain green or slightly immature fruits continue to develop and acquire the color of
mature of the fruits during sun drying – this does not occur during dehydration. This
is primarily because a more complex preparation and pre-treatment in which fruits
undergo before it was dehydrated.

WATER ACTIVITY – is related to the amount of water contained in the food material and
defines the amount of water that can be used for growth and reproduction of microorganism,
water being necessary for all biological systems. o All food materials contain water, its water
content held together by atomic and molecular forces. o Water is an essential solvent that is
needed in biochemical reactions in living organisms.
o Lack of water prevents microorganisms from growing but does not necessarily
cause death of the microorganism.
o When water interacts with solutes and surfaces, it is unavailable for other
hydration interactions.
o
• The term “water activity” describes the amount of water available for
hydration of materials.
• A water activity value of 1.0 indicates pure water whereas zero indicates the
total absence of water molecules. Addition of solutes always lowers the water
activity.
o High water activity such as 0.8 or greater indicated a moist or wet
system.
o Low water activity such as 0.7 or less indicates a dry system.
• Water activity reflects a combination of water-solute and water-surface
interaction plus capillary forces.
• Water in food are categorized into:
o Bound water – are water molecules present in the food material which
is strongly bound to specific sites on the molecules that comprise the
food materials.

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o Free water – refers to as unbound or active water in the food

materials.

❖ Food Preservation by Controlling Water Activity:

▪ Concentration and Sugar Preservation
▪ Salting
▪ Dehydration
▪ Freezing
▪ Freeze-drying
▪
❖ Particular significant in food preservation are the following critical water activities: ▪
0.2 – all chemical reactions requiring water stops
▪ 0.6 - no microbial growth occurs
▪ 0.3-0.5 – textural changes happens – loss of crispiness and brittleness, in
case of powders, some pumping may occur.
❖ Controlling Browning Reaction:
▪ Foods products are subjected to browning reactions. Food contains protein
and carbohydrates, prone to Maillard Reactions.
▪ The tendency for browning increases as the water activity increases reaching
a maximum at water activities in the range of 0.6 to 0.7.

FOOD DRYING
• Sun Drying can only dry up to residual water of 15 – 25 % it requires a lot of
space and the food being dried is exposed to contamination and losses from
dust, insects, bids and rodents.
• Use of drying equipment heated by gas, electricity or steam is called artificial
dryer or dehydration. o The final moisture content of product dried in such
equipment can be as low as 1 -5 %.
o As exemplified by dehydrated products such as milk powder, instant coffee,
potato flakes, orange juice crystals.

ADVANTAGES OF DRYING/DEHYDRATION (FOOD)

1. Decrease in bulk, thus making it easier to transfer and handle.
2. Convenience
3. Shelf-Stable – is preserved by having all of the water removed: thus making it safe to
store it at room temperature for long period of time. Although all food is best when eaten
soon after being dehydrated, when stored properly, dehydrated food can be stored safely
for many years without losing flavor.
4. Lightweight – dehydration removes about 98% of the water content from fresh food,
making it considerable lighter when dehydrated.

MECHANISM OF DRYING/ DEHYDRATION

• All methods of drying involve two simultaneous processes:

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o getting heat into the food (heat transfer) and o getting the water out of the food
(Mass transfer).
• Conditions during drying do not always favor both processes some conditions may favor
one and hinder the other.
• In food drying it is important to complete the drying process in the shortest possible
time (maximum drying rates) while minimizing losses in desirable product
characteristics such as color, flavor and nutritional value.
• The rate of drying is affected by the following factors:
o HUMIDITY – with air as the drying medium, the drier the air the more rapid is
the rate of drying. The dryness of the air which is expresses as the relative
humidity is the most important factor in air drying.
▪ HYGROMETER – use to check or measure the humid of the drying
chamber.
o SURFACE AREA – generally, food to be dried is cut into small pieces or thin
layers, to speed both the transfer of heat to the food and the loss of water from
the food.
▪ A smaller piece provides a larger surface area in contact with the heating
medium and more surface for water to escape.
▪ It also shortens the distance for both heat transfer and water removal. o
TEMPERATURE – the greater the temperature difference between the
food and the heating medium, the faster will be the transfer of heat to the
food, which provides the driving force for moisture removal.
▪ The hotter the surrounding air, the more moisture it can hold before
getting saturated. It is important in drying that the moisture-laden air be
removed from the drying chamber before it becomes saturated otherwise
drying will slow down considerable and if allowed to become
supersaturated, drying will stop completely.
▪ The maximum temperature is determined by the kind of food being dried.
▪ Losses in color and nutrients are also higher at higher drying
temperature. Some food materials have components (vitamins, flavors)
that are easily destroyed at higher drying temperature.
o AIR VELOCITY – air in motion picks up the moisture-laden air from the drying
food surface preventing the saturation of the surrounding air with the moisture
from the food.
▪ This effect is demonstrated by the faster drying of laundry on windy days
than when there is no wind. o VENTILATION/MOIST AIR OUTLET –
moisture-laden air has to escape from the drying chamber, otherwise the
drying air will become saturated with moisture and can no longer pick up
the moisture from the surface of the food.
o ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND VACUUM – at a constant temperature, a
decrease in pressure, increases the rate of boiling.
▪ Water in a heated vacuum chamber will lose moisture at a low
temperature, or at a faster rate that it would in a chamber at atmospheric
pressure.

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▪ This principle involves in vacuum drying. Heat-sensitive products are

dried under vacuum at lower temperatures.

STAGES OF DRYING
1. CONSTANT RATE PERIOD – at the start of the drying process, the food material is
still completely wet. The surface water quickly evaporates from the surface.
• The rate of removal of water can then be related to eh rate of heat transfer, if
there is no change in temperature of the material, all heat energy transferred
to it must result in evaporation of water.
• The rate of removal of the water is also the rate of the mass transfer, from the
solid to the surrounding.
2. FALLING RATE PERIOD – the highest rate dying is normally achieved during the
constant rate period. As drying proceeds he moisture constant falls and the access of
water from the interior of the food to the surface decreases the food material being
dried as the key factor that controls the observed drying rates.

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❖ Constant rate period, the air temperature can be relatively high, (65°C /150°F to
70°C/160°F) so that the moisture can evaporate quickly from the food. Because food
losses heat during evaporation, the air temperature can be high without increasing the
temperature of the food.
TYPES OF FOOD TO DRY
• Practically all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat and fish can be dried.
• Seeds, leafy vegetables and herbs are probably the easiest to dry. Vegetables that are
also practical to dry include peas, corn, peppers, squash, onions and green beans.
• Lean meats such as beef, lamb, and venison can be dried for jerky.
• Cured and fermented sausages are also dried without salting.
• Certain foods are not suitable for drying because of their high moisture content.
Lettuce, melons and cucumbers are few foods that do not dry well by conventional
methods.
CASE HARDENING
• Rapid dehydration is desirable.
• The higher the temperature and the lower the humidity, the more rapid the rate of
dehydration will be, but if drying takes place too fast “Case Hardening” occur.
• This means that the cell on the outside of the pieces of food give up moisture from
the inside cells.
• This will prevent the water in the inner part of the piece from vaporizing, resulting in
high moisture, making it susceptible to spoilage.

UNIFORM DRYING
• Simple drying equipment does not dry food uniformly.
• It takes a little extra effort and attention. Stirring the food frequently and shifting the
racks in the oven or dryer are essential because heat is at the same in all parts of the
drying racks.
• Even after drying, between food pieces as well as within each piece, during may not
always be uniform, so a step called “sweating” is a usual practice.
• Sweating involves placing the newly dried food in a closed chamber and allowed to
stay there for varying periods, so moisture equilibrium within and between foods
pieces can occur.

DRYING METHODS AND EQUIPMENT

1. Sun Drying – is the most common method of drying, still use in many fishing area in the
country. Improvements can be done to make the process more sanitary.
2. Solar Drying – is applicable in many countries such as the Philippine where outdoor
temperature is higher.
▪ Solar drying uses equipment to collect sun rays in a unit designed to ventilate
moisture. The temperature in the unit is usually 20-30 degrees higher than in
open sunlight.
3. Tray Dryers /Cabinet Dryer – in tray dyers, the food is spread out, generally, quite thinly,
on trays in which drying takes place. Heating may be by an air current sweeping across
the trays, by conduction from heated trays or heated shelves on which the trays or heated
shelved on which the trays lie or by radiation from heated surfaces.
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4. Roller or Drum Dryers – the food is spread over the surface of a heated drum. It utilizes
a hot roll rotating in the fluid or fed from between rollers. The drums rotates, with the
food being applied o he drum at one part of the cycle.
▪ Drum drying in a vacuum chamber can reduce heat exposure and affect a puffing
of the juice on the drums which makes pulverizing easier.
5. Freeze Drying – the gentlest and most expensive dehydration method, dehydration
process typically used to preserve a perishable material or make the material more
convenient for transport.
▪ Freeze-drying works by freezing the material and then reducing the surrounding
pressure and adding enough heat to allow the frozen water in the material o
sublime directly from the solid phase to the gas phase.
6. Spray Drying – liquid or fine solid material in slurry is sprayed in the form of fine
droplet dispersion into a current heated air. Drying occurs very rapidly, so that this
process is very useful for materials that are damaged by exposure to heat for any
appreciable length of time.
7. Oil Drying/Frying – drying by frying is applicable to very thin or small pieces of food
such as potato chips, banana chips and extruded puffed products. It is important to
monitor frying temperature and proportion of oil to the food being fried to avoid large
inflow of oil into the food.

TESTING FOR DRYNESS

• Factors affecting the length of time needed for drying food:
▪ Temperature
▪ Air Circulation
▪ The kind of food being dried
▪ The amount of food in the tray
▪ The size of the pieces of the food
▪ The total amount of the food in the oven or dryer
• In commercial drying processes, a test tray is designed and this is taken out for
weighing determining intervals. The weight loss is assumed to be water loss.
• For small scale operations or home processing, very practical methods of testing
are used. Dryness is determined by squeezing a few pieces of the product. If the
pieces of fruit spring apart and there is no moisture left on your hand when you
open it, then dying is complete.
o Dried fruits should be pliable and leathery. In a cabinet dryer, drying may
take takes a little as 4 hours to more than 10 hours depending on the
product thickness and other factors.
o Most vegetables will be hard and brittle when completely dry. A dried
piece will shatter or crumble. Exceptions are mushroom, green peppers
and squash which will be pliable and leathery. Vegetables usually dry in 4
to 12 hours.
o Herbs require 2 to 3 days when air dried and 2 to 3 hours in a cabinet
dryer. Herbs are dried when they are brittle and the leaves can easily
crushed.
o Dried jerky is dark brown to black. To test for dryness, bend a piece. T
should bend like a green twig, not break part completely like a dry stick.
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There should b no visible moisture inside.
o Small fishes are tested by pinching the head part. If the flesh still yields
and especially if liquid is squeezes out, then fish is not yet dry.

CONDITIONING/SWEATING
• It is not always possible with simple drying procedures to dry all the pieces of
food evenly. Depending on the size of the pieces and the location of the tray, some
pieces will be too dry and others will be not quite dry enough.
• After the food is dried and cooled, place the dried products in a closed container.
• Most small scale fruits drying establishment use a large plastic pail lined with
sanitized muslin or cheese cloth.
• After cooling the product dried in a cabinet dryer/solar dryer these are kept in a
container for at least 24 hrs depending on the products. Some processors
condition for up to 10 days with satisfactory results. The conditioning container is
kept in a cool dry place, probably with air conditioning.
• While conditioning, the products is stirred with sanitized large spatula or
stainless steel food shovel once a day for the duration of conditioning. This allow
the moisture from the under dried pieces to be absorbed by the over-dried pieces.
• If droplets of moisture appear on the sides or lid of the container, the food is not
dry enough and should be redried in the dryer.

PASTEURIZING
• Sun dried food can sometimes be contaminated by insects, which can cause spoilage.
Sulfuring fruits usually prevent this type of contamination. Another option is
pasteurization especially if the food was dried outdoors, where it was probably
contaminated.
• To pasteurize, heat an oven to 80°C/175°F. Set the pieces of dried food in a single
layer on a tray. Heat in the oven with the door closed for 15 minutes. Remove from
the oven and allow the food to cool before packaging.

PACKAGING AND STORING

• Suitable packaging for dried products must protect from deterioration during storage
and distribution. The following technical characteristics are required:
▪ Moisture transfer control
▪ Gas transfer control
▪ Barrier against contamination by microorganism as well as chemical
and physical hazards
▪ No food-package interaction
▪ No leaching out toxic constituents
▪ Protection against crushing
• Other package characteristics to be considered are: cost, transparency and
machinability.
• Depending on product characteristics, the target shelf life and the destination of the 13
products, a suitable material can be chosen. Page
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▪ Rigid containers – glass: metal cans: composite cans: rigid plastic
such as high density polyethylene.
▪ Semi-rigid – aluminum and laminated paperboard boxes.
▪ Flexible Plastics – plastic laminates, plastic films for vacuum or gas
packing.
• Most practical packaging for dried food is Low Density Polyethylene( LDPE) with
thickness of at least .003inches (3 mil).
• Dried products with tendency to crumble like snack products are packed with
nitrogen gas. The gas serves as cushion that will prevent crushing during normal
handling and storage.
• Nitrogen packing also prevents oxidative rancidity in fried products. Products which
are prone to oxidative reactions but resistant o crumbling are best packed in vacuum.

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Lesson 3 : FERMENTATION AND PICKLING________________
FERMENTATION – it is the conversion of carbohydrates
to alcohol and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeast
and bacteria under anaerobic condition.
• Is process by which the living cell is able to obtain
energy through the breakdown of glucose and other
simple sugar molecules without requiring oxygen.
• It is achieved by somewhat different chemical
sequence in different species of organisms. Sugars
are converted into lactic acid, acetic acid and
ethanol through fermentation.
Application of Fermentation in Food Preservation
Enrichment of the diet through development of a diversity of flavors, aromas and textures
if food substrates.
Preservation of food substantial amounts of food through lactic acid, alcoholic, acetic and
alkaline fermentations.
Enrichment of food substrates biologically with protein, essential amino acids, essential
fatty acids and vitamins. Detoxification during fermentation processing.
A decrease in cooking times and fuel requirements.
Fermentation has benefits exclusive to foods. Fermentation can produce important
nutrients or eliminate anti- nutrients.
Fermented types of Foods (Examples)
➢ Bean based – miso, soy sauce, tofu, tempeh, mung beans milk.
➢ Grain based – beer, bead, spur dough, rice wine, mal, whiskey, vodka.
➢ Vegetable based – kimchi, mixed pickles, sauerkraut, Indian pickle (chutney)
➢ Fruit based – wine. Vinegar, cider, brandy
➢ Fish based – Patis – made from small raw fishes called trash fish in the trade. Patis
fermentation is carried out in concrete vats, earthen jars or wooden cask. It is called
nuoc-mam – Vietnam: nam pla – Thailand: liquamen - A. rome: garum- Greece. ▪
To make patis,it is necessary to make bagoong, patis being the clear liquid that
separates from the bagoong when this is allowed from 6 months
longer.
o Bagoong – has two variants the bagoong alamang or
shrimp fry and the salted small fish which may or may not
be a byproduct of patis.
▪ The aging of the salt actually purifies the salt
because of the impurities which have lower
solubility are melted during the aging period. The presalted fish is
carefully resalted with the aged salt and added
to the vat of previously fermented fish. The fish
is allowed to ferment for 6 months; they place
on earthen jars during fermentation.
▪ Other products are buro, like burong dalag,
burong bangus, burong talangka. ➢ Meat
based – chorizo, salami, pepperoni
➢ Tea based – Kombucha – (mushroom)(fermented tea, often 15
dunk for medicinal purposes) Page
 FOOD PROCESSING 1

PICKLING – is the process of preserving food by anaerobic

fermentation in brine (salt and water) to produces lactic acid, or
marinating and storing it in an acid solution usually vinegar
(acetic acid) to produce salty and sour taste (medium pH).
It is preserving foods in vinegar (or other acids). Vinegar is
produced from starches or sugar fermented first to alcohol
and then the alcohol is oxidized by acetic acids forming
bacteria to acetic acids.
The term Pickling has also various connotations: Brine solutions
There are Two Basic Categories of Pickles:
o Pickles preserved in vinegar, a strong acid in which few bacteria can survive.
Most bottled cucumber and other pickled vegetables available in the supermarket
are preserved in vinegar as are relishes and ketchup.
o Pickling involves soaking in a salt brine to encourage the growth of fermentative
bacteria that makes a food less vulnerable to spoilage-causing bacteria. Common
examples of fermented pickles are: kimchi, sauerkraut, cucumber dill pickles,
burong mustasa and others.

Curing Meats in Brine (also called pickling), also involves fermentation process, the
formation of lactic acid, which responsible for the sourish flavor in cure meats.
o Four classes of Pickles:
▪ Brined or cured pickles (fermented): hold vegetables in a salt solution for
several weeks until cured. During this time changes in color, flavor and
texture takes place. You can make them sweet, sour, dill or mustard
pickles.
▪ Fresh pack or unfermented pickle: the vinegar in the recipe preserves the
fruit or vegetables. Quick pickles are easy to make example are achara.
▪ Relishes, chutney and ketchup: combine chopped or purred vegetables or
fruits with vinegar, salt, sugar and spices.
▪ Fruit pickles: whole or sliced fruits in a spicy sweet-sour syrup.

Cured and Fermented Pickles

➢ Dill Pickles – pickle with dill and other spices – old fashion dill
pickles is a salt stock which had been fermented and eventually
packed in brine with herb and spices, particularly dill seeds and dill
weeds.
➢ Sauerkraut – use freshly harvested firm heads of cabbage. Best
results are achieved when the pickling is done between 24 hours to
48 hours after harvest.
o Cabbage is shredded and mixed with salt (non-iodized), then
packed firmly in a suitable ceramic container or food grade
plastic container.
Stored at low temperature place 15 °C, fermented to 5-6 weeks).
o After fermentation is completed, indicating by the cessation of bubbling
and by the texture and translucent appearance of the cabbage, the 16
sauerkraut is ready to use. Page
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
➢ Kimchi – is the traditional pickled vegetable in korea that has been quite popular in the
phil.
o It is a spicy ho pickles due to the addition of hot chili. While the usual raw
materials is Chinese Cabbage, which we called Pechay Baguio, practically all
other vegetables (eggplant, pumpkin flowers, cucumber, radishes, mustard leaves
etc.)can be made as well.
➢ Philippine Buro – Mustasa and Santol are examples of lactic acid fermentation
vegetables and fruits. Other examples are burong manga.
o Achara – example of quick process pickles.

Ingredients of Pickling Solution

SALT – use non-iodized pickling salt. Some table salt contend additive that can make the
pickling solution cloudy. Iodine may reacts with starches which causing discoloration or
darkening.
VINEGAR – use vinegar with at least 4 % acidity. Use white vinegar for lighter color
vegetables such as tuba vinegar, check acidity. Too low acidity will not preserve the
vegetables.
SWEETENERS – white granulated sugar and brown sugar are the sweeteners most often
used in pickling. White sugar will not add any color to the product: however, brown
sugar may add a distinctive flavor and color.
SPICES – pickles used variety mix of whole spices. Whole spices are best to used because,
powdered spices may darken and cloud the product. Some herbs and spices may be
added whole packed in the jars with the pickled vegetables.
➢ Chutney and Relish – Chutney is most widely associated with Indian food, the concept
has spread worldwide and has been modified to suit local taste. Derived from the East
Indian ”chatni” which means “strongly spiced”. Relishes are usually chopped up crunchy
pickled vegetables.
o Chutney has described as a condiment made up of a mix of chopped fruits,
vinegar, spices and sugar cooked into a chunky spread. There are countless
possible combination for chutney most have fruit based but may non-sweet
vegetables can also be used.
➢ Ketchup and other Sauces. Ketchup/Catsup – the US FDA food law imposes a legal
definition for the term ketchup/catsup, unqualified to a tomato-based condiment with
added vinegar, sugar, salt and spices.
o In the phil., the term is freely used. The very popular banana ketchup is one such
example.
Other Sauces: chili sauce; hot sauces; worcester sauce; barbeque and steak sauces where vinegar
or other souring ingredients such as tamarind is used.
➢ Fruit Pickles – may be categories as with fermented pickles or quick pickles but using
fruit as based raw materials. Examples are green mango pickles, santol, kamias,
watermelon rind and others.
BOTTLING OF PICKLES AND CATSUP
✓ Make sure that the product is kept on its acquired temperature requirements.
✓ Processing times and procedures vary according to food acidity and the size of
food pieces.
✓ More high acidic products require less heat treatment. Pickled product with 17
acidity of pH 3.5 or less is processed on water-bath for 10 mins. Page
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
✓ Highly acidic sauces and chutney may be hot filled after cooking, in a sterilized
bottle while hot then capped.
STORAGE:
✓ When the processing time is complete, remove jars and place upright about 2
inches apart on wire racks or towels. Let cool, undisturbed for 12-14 hours.
✓ Recheck the seal and wipe the jars clean. Stored pickles in a cool, dark, dry place.
SPOILAGE:
Soft, slippery or slimy pickles are spoiled and should be destroy so spoiled contents
cannot be eaten by people or animals. Causes of spoilage:
✓ Insufficient heat treatment and poor jars seals –can be prevented by processing
pickles in a boiling water bath and using standard jars and with new lid.
✓ Failure to remove blossom ends
✓ Failure to thoroughly wash the products
✓ No removing the scum that accumulates on curing brines
✓ Using weak or brine or vinegar solutions
✓ Not keeping the pickles covered with brine throughout he curing process ✓ Using
deteriorated ingredients such as moldy garlic or decayed spices.
✓ Storing the pickles at too warm temperature

Other Problems
✓ Shriveling – happens most often in very sweet or sour pickles and in large whole
cucumber pickles. It is caused by using salt, sugar or vinegar solution that is too
strong at the beginning of the pickling process. Overcooking, over processing or
not staring with fresh produce also may cause shriveling.
✓ Hollow pickles – are the result of faulty growth or curing.
✓ Discolored pickles – may cause by iron from hard water or an iron cooking
utensils. Iodized salt, ground spices, too much spice or packing the spice bag in
jars will darken pickles.
✓ White Sediment – at the bottom of the jars may be caused by anti-caking agents
in the salt or by the fermenting bacteria. Neither cause is harmful.
✓ Blue, Purple or blue-green garlic. May result from immature garlic or garlic that
is not fully dry, from cooper pans, or from a high amount of copper in the water.
Such color changes do not indicate the presence of harmful substances.

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 FOOD PROCESSING 1

Lesson 4 : LOW TEMPERATURE AND FREEZING______________

CHILLING or REFRIGERATION – is a gentle method of food
preservation.
• Refers to storage of food between 15°C to 1°C, just above the
freezing point of water.
• It has minimum adverse effect on the taste, texture and the
nutritional value of foods, but it is a short-term method of
preserving food. Complimentary preservation to Curing.
• The refrigeration temperature is a key factor in predicting the
length of the storage period.
o Example: meat will last 6-10days at 0°C, one day at 22 °C
and less than one day at 38°C.
o Household refrigerator temperature is usually run at 4.7 to 7°C.
• The preservative action of refrigeration is attributed to the following:
o Retardation of the growth of microorganisms
o Slows down post-harvest metabolic activities of intact plant tissues and post
slaughter activities of animal tissues.
o Slow down chemical reactions like enzyme-catalyzed oxidative browning or lipid
oxidation.
o Retard loss of nutritive value.
• It is also a process of solidify gels, to ripen cheese or control yeast activity in baked
products or as in-process procedure.
• It is also used as modified atmosphere storage and controlled atmosphere storage of
fresh produce.
• The chilling temperature meant to control pathogens has been set as 4°C (40°F), which
is designed lower limit of the TDZ.

CHILLING EFFECTS ON FOOD

Because chilling does only slows down but not stop biochemical reactions, quality losses
can occur during chilling storage through one or more of the following.
1. Microbiological activity. Growth of microorganism is the major cause of deterioration
during chilling. The shelf life of chilled foods depends upon the previous treatments
applied prior to chilling.
2. Enzymatic and other physiological activities. Again depending on the products and
previous pretreatments, these kinds of activities may be slight, moderate or severe.
a. Fruits and vegetables may be subjected to quality loss due to chilling injury, a
condition manifested by browning, water soaking and softening.
b. Cold Shortening in Meat leading to toughness and low capability to hold
moisture could occur if meat is subjected to too low chilling temperature
immediately after slaughter.
3. Physical damage due to bruising, dehydration or witling can also occur during cold
storage.
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1

Relative Humidity – control of R.H. in chilling storage is essential to achieve maximum storage
life.
• Relative humidifies higher than optimum will encourage growth of microorganism.
While lower than optimum will result in wilting or shriveling.
• Relative humidity requirements varies, fresh produce requiring as much as 90-95%
humidity.

ADJUNTS TO CHILLING
The following processes may be coupled with chilling storage for maximum shelf life of food
products.
1. Cooking. Cooked food will have extended shelf life if chilled. Common way of preserving
cooked foods at home and in food service establishments.
2. Pasteurization. Mild heat treatments below boiling point reduce the bacterial population
in milk and fruit products while maximizing flavor and nutrients retention.
3. Fermentation and Curing. Fermented vegetables and cured meat products have
extended shelf life when chilled.
4. Waxing and Oiling. Fresh fruits and vegetables may be waxed or oiled to reduce
dehydration, then chilling for longer shelf life.
5. Modified and Controlled atmosphere storage of fruits and vegetables. The rate of
respiration is controlled in C.A and M.A. storage of fresh produce, by altering the carbon
dioxide-oxygen ratio in the atmosphere immediately surrounding the fresh produce.
Chilling is necessary to further slows down the physiological processes.

FREEZING - solidification is a phase change in which a

liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below
its freezing point. The reverse process is melting.
• The freezing point for pure water is 0°C but for food,
the freezing point is below 0C because solutes such as
sugar, salt and acid lowers freezing point.
• Is similar to refrigeration in that will not destroy
microorganisms nor inactivate enzymes. However, can completely inhibit the activities
of microorganisms without necessarily casing their destruction.
• Enzymes, on the other hand, will maintain a certain level of activity during freezing. This
is the reason for blanching fruits and vegetables prior to freezing.
• Freezing has significantly brought convenience foods to homes and food service
establishments. Done properly, freezing causes minimal changes I the quality of food in
terms of size, shape, texture, color, flavor and microbial load.
• The important factor in freezing is freezing rate, whether the freezing process is slow or
rapid.
o Large Ice Crystals are formed when food is frozen slowly.
o Small Ice Crystals when frozen rapidly.
▪ Large ice crystals damage the cell structure of foods like meat and fish
resulting in poor texture and excessive dripping upon thawing.
• Like in other preparation for other preservation methods, proper cleaning and packaging
prior to freezing are essential. Unique to chilling and freezing is the strict maintenance of 20
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the proper temperature.
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
• Freezing is also used as a temporary method of preserving during glut or as
prepreparation for other products.

FREEZING FUNDAMENTALS
➢ Freezing preservation is achieved when the temperature of the food is reduced to a
low temperature low enough to cause most of the water to be converted from liquid
state to solid ice.
➢ In practice, freezing temperatures may range from -5°C to much lower temperature,
as low as -195°C in case of cryogenic freezing. Commercial quick freezing processes,
however are usually -4°C (-40°F)
➢ The preservation effect of freezing is attributed to low temperature effects in
microbial growth and physiological reactions; and the unavailability of water for
microbial and enzymatic reactions.
➢ Water in the solid state of ice, is not usable for microbial growth and biochemical
reactions. In freezing the major focus is the freezing of its water content, which is the
biggest component in most food materials in its natural state.

THE FREEZING OF WATER

• The food freezing process is thus better understood by looking at the sequence of events in
the freezing of water involving two distinct steps: supercooling and ice crystallization. Ice
crystallization can in fact be broken down further into two steps: nucleation and crystal
growth.
➢ SUPERCOOLING. Fundamental knowledge tells us that the freezing point of water is
0°C, but when liquid water reaches 0°C, it will not freeze.
▪ For water to solidify as ice a lower temperature of about -2°C is needed. This
condition is supercooling. While in this super cooled state, nucleation of ice
crystals begins.
➢ CRYSTALLIZATION. Nucleation is the first stage of ice crystallization. At this point,
the temperature rises from the supercooled stage to the freezing point of water (0°C).
➢ NUCLEATION. Two types of nucleation; homogeneous which happens in pure water
and heterogeneous which occurs in food systems.
▪ Homogeneous nucleation depends on chance orientation of water molecules
into ordered structure. This requires lower temperatures.
▪ Heterogeneous nucleation uses adjacent suspended solutes, surface films and
walls of the container as the anchor for the ice crystals to form.
➢ CRYSTAL GROWTH. It is the second steps in the crystallization process. Unlike
crystallization, that requires temperature lower than the freezing point, ice crystal
growth can proceed at the relatively higher temperatures of a little below 0°C. At
lower temperature, the rate of nucleation increases, making possible many small ice
crystal to form. At relatively shigher freezing temperatures, nucleation is slower so
the ice crystals that form are larger.
➢ SIZE OF ICE CRYSTAL. It is readily observed that ice crystals formed by fast freezing
are small and numerous while slower freezing rate produce lesser and larger ice
crystal.
➢ RECRYSTALLIZATION. Water molecules converted into ice, do not remain stable.
During frozen storage, the ice formed continuously undergoes changes collectively 21
referred recrystallization. Page
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
▪ It is acknowledge that smaller ice crystals cannot bind their water molecules
as well as the larger ice crystals, thus the tendency for larger crystals to
become even bigger at the expense of the smaller ones.
▪ Recrystallization can be minimized when low freezer storage temperature is
maintained.
➢ ICE CRYSTAL LOCATION. The location of ice crystal in food systems is an important
factor that affects the sensory property of the frozen food; such location is
determined by the freezing rate, the initial temperature of the food product prior to
freezing and the kind of cellular or tissue structure of the food material.
▪ Slow freezing (cooling rate of less than 1°C per minute) generally cause ice
crystals to form outside the cellular structure. The water inside the cellular
structure diffuses outside the cell and freeze there.
▪ The end result is large crystals outside of the cellular structure and maximum
discoloration of the water as the cellular water diffuse outside the cell causing
shrunken appearance of the cell while frozen state which in turn is
responsible for loss of desirable textural properties of food.
▪ Rapid freezing on the other hand (cooling at a rate of more than 1°C per
minute) encourage intracellular ice formation. The cooling is so fast that the
water does not have time to diffuse out of the cellular structure thus freezing
right where they are. The faster the freezing rate, the more ice formation
inside cells and smaller ice crystals too.

OTHER CHANGES IN FOOD

1. VOLUME INCREASE. When water freezes, it expands in volume by about 9%. The
volume change in frozen food is determined by its freezable water content.
▪In frozen food not all water is converted to ice. This unfreezable water.
▪This volume expansion explains why full rigid containers, such as
softdrinks in bottles break when frozen.
▪This phenomenon of volume expansion when water freezes, is a critical
consideration in packaging of foods intended to be frozen.
2. CONCENTRATION OF NON-WATER COMPONENTS. When a water solution is frozen,
the water portion freezes first thereby concentrating the solutes.
▪This phenomenon is exploited a process of concentrating dilute water
solutions like juices, for example. Because the water portion freezes first
the remaining unfrozen materials is more concentrated, having structure
of food system.

❖ Freezing involves the change of water contained in the food from a liquid to a solid (ice).
When water freezes it expands, and the ice crystals formed cause cell walls of food to
rupture. As a result the texture of the product will be softer when it thaws.
o These textural changes are most noticeable in fruits and vegetables that have high
water content.
o These changes due to freezing are not as apparent in products that are cooked
before eating because cooking also softens cell walls. Textural changes are also
less noticeable in high-starch vegetables such as peas, corn and lima beans.
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FREEZING TECHNOLOGY
The freezing process, consist of 3 main operations: pre-freezing treatments, freezing and
frozen storage. A fourth procedure is thawing. o Pre-freezing Treatments. Preliminary to any
food preservation. In freezing, control of enzymatic activity is even more significant than in
other preservation methods. Control of enzyme activity in fruits and vegetables is achieved by
blanching.
▪ Blanching – mild treatment accomplished by hot water or steam at
80100°C
▪ Pasteurization – applied for liquids or semi-liquid such as puree. At 85°C.
▪ Cooking
▪ Chemical Additives many uncooked fruits and vegetable product are
pretreatment with chemicals to prevent both enzymatic-catalyzed
oxidative browning and enzymatic browning.
▪ Syruping – applied on fruits like strawberries and mangoes may be
packed in syrup for freezing. Syrup helps in maintaining the texture of the
fruits during freezing and frozen storage.
• Function of sugar syrups in frozen foods are: contribute to
sweetness, retention of volatile flavors, decrease the amount of
cellular water freezing at any given temperature.
▪ Packaging – many foods products are first packed before freezing,
although packaging after freezing is also widely practiced. The latter is
called IQF for individual quick frozen.

FREEZING PROCESS
• Air Freezing- packaged or unpackaged solid pieces of food can be frozen by exposing to
cold air at temperatures ranging from -18 to -40°C.
o Still Air –the air circulation is very slow or none at all. This is what happens when
food is frozen in the freezer section of most household refrigerators.
▪ The rate of freezing is very slow from 3hours to as long as 72 hours
depending on the conditions and the size of the products to be frozen.
o Air Blast – vigorous circulation of air enables the freezing to be accomplished at a
faster rate.
▪ It is usually done by placing the products to be frozen on trays or on a
mesh belt passing it slowly in an insulated tunnel or chamber with air
temperatures of -30 to -40°C.
o Fluidized bed – is a modification of the air blast freezing methods. This method is
usually applied to freezing of high throughput products small discrete particles
like peas, corn or carrot dice.
o Plate Freezing –it is also called contact freezing. This method of choice when the
products to be frozen in packaged in a regular shaped box or block. The most
common application of this method is block frozen shrimps. The temperatures on
the surface of the metal plates are typically also -30 to -40°C.
o Block freezing – the product is embedded in a block of ice.
o Immersion freezing – it is accomplished by directly immersing the food in the
refrigerant or spraying the refrigerant directly over the food to be frozen.
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
▪ Liquid nitrogen freezing is also called cryogenic freezing because it
involves extremely low temperatures (-185°C).
o Glazing – is a method of applying a coat of ice over the frozen food which acts like
skin. This is done to prevent moisture loss during frozen storage.

FROZEN STORAGE
• The common food storage temperature is -18°C (0°F).
• In practice of temperature fluctuation is avoided by minimizing the entry of hot air when
opening the storage freezers to load or withdraw stocks.
o This is accomplished by providing an anteroom and plastic curtains and following
strictly the schedule for opening the storage freezers.
• The storage temperature should not reach higher than 5°F or (-15°C). Check the
temperature with a thermometer.

➢ FREEZER BURN
• It is the condition caused by dehydration of frozen food.
• Moisture loss or ice crystals evaporating from the surface area of a product.
• It appears as a fuzzy, grayish-white spot on the food surface.
• It is not harmful but it causes off-flavors and undesirable texture changes such as
toughening and stringiness.
• It can be prevented by glazing, wrapping food in a moisture-vapor-proof material that
can withstand the low temperature without tearing and storing it for recommended
length of time.
• Covering fruit with syrup and cooked meat with gravy or sauce also helps prevent freezer
burn.

➢ COOLING AND PACKAGING

• Proper packaging prevents loss of moisture, changes in color and flavor and transfer of
strong flavors and odors among foods.
• Coated or laminated freezer paper, polyethylene films and heavy-weight aluminum foil
are good warping materials for freezing. Use wrap specifically labeled for freezing.
• Ceramic, metal, microwavable plastic or glass containers may be
used for hot or cold foods.

SHELF LIFE OF FROZEN FOODS

✓ With properly maintained freezer storage, the frozen foods can be
frozen up to 12 months with 9 months considered optimum.
✓ The standard freezer storage temperature is -18°C (0°F). Lower
the storage temperature will result in shorter shelf life.
✓ Unpackaged frozen foods may experience freezer burn resulting in
considerable loss in quality as well as weight.

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Some Problems and Remedies in frozen Foods

Problem Cause Prevention

Package torn or unsealed Be sure all packages are
sealed tight so no air can get
it. Handle carefully to avoid
tears. Overwrap foil
Freezer burn (surface
wrapped packages.
of food light colored and Packaging not moisture Use only packaging
dried out; food is tough, /vapor proof approved for use in freezing.
dry and less flavorful).
Too much air in package Always press out all air in
wrapped food. Use the right
size of container and allow
adequate headspace.
Fruits frozen too slowly. Freeze food at 0 °C or below
immediately after
packaging. Do not freeze
more than 2 to 3 pounds of
food per cubic foot of
storage space at one time.
Gummy liquids in fruits
Freezer temperature too Always keep the
warm temperature set at 0 °F or
below.
Fluctuation temperature Maintain a constant
temperature of 0 °F or
below.
Spoilage of the fat Trim excess fat from meat
before freezing as it may
become rancid before the
lean portion is used.
Rancid flavors
Package foods correctly and
exclude all unnecessary air.
Do not store longer than
recommended.
Freezing unblanched Blanch all vegetables for the
“Grassy” flavors in recommended times before
vegetables freezing.
vegetables
Large ice crystals form in Freeze foods at 0F or below
the food, breaking the cell immediately after packaging
structure and maintain that
Mushy food temperature throughout
storage. Do no freeze more
than 2 to 3 pounds of food
per cubic 25
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1

foot of freezer space at one

time.
Maroon-colored bones or Hemoglobin (color pigment) Natural occurrence. The
pink meat in frozen in bones meat is safe to eat
poultry after it is cooked.

Green vegetables turn Not blanching green Blanch all vegetables as

olive-green vegetables directed.

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Lesson 5: HEAT APPLICATION OR THERMAL PROCESSING___
Heat Application is preservation that involves the use of heat. It is
also known as Thermal Processing, but it is more popularly
associated by Canning.
• Using heat to destroy microorganisms responsible for
spoilage.
o It depends on the temperature-time of exposure.
• Other factors that affecting bacterial destruction is the
pH (acidity) and water activity.
o Low Acid (pH above 4.5) and acid (pH 4.5 and lower)
o The acidity of the food as expressed in pH values,
determines the kind of heat treatment that will preserve a
product.
Heat Application used to Preserve Food
• COOKING – is a heat application with the major an objective of making food more
palatable.
▪ It is categorized as a preservation method since cooked food generally has
longer shelf life compared to raw food.
▪ Useful life is cooked food may be extended by application of other means
of preservation such as refrigeration, freezing, addition of preservatives
and use of protective packaging.
• BLANCHING – is heat application that is primarily a pre-treatment to other
methods of preservation such as drying, canning and freezing.
▪ Its major objective is to inactivate enzymes but it also drives of cellular
gasses and kill pathogens and some spoilage microorganisms.

➢ The application of heat as a preservation method are generally categorized into

pasteurization and sterilization, but further sub-classification would include hot filling,
water bath sterilization, pressure sterilization and ultra-high temperature sterilization.

❖ PASTEURIZATION – is method of preservation named after Louis Pasteur,

• Refers to heating below 100 ⁰C, but above 60 ⁰C.
• Foods are subjected to sufficient heat to kill most of the bacteria
without markedly altering flavor or other characteristics.
• Food is heated in a closed system, rapidly cooked and then placed
in covered or sealed container to prevent contamination.
• The temperature and time factor depends upon the food, its
characteristics and the extend of food preservation desired as well
as the target microorganism.
• Pasteurized products may still contain spoilage microorganism
which survive the heat application, so it relies on application of
complimentary preservation techniques such as refrigeration,
acidification or use of preservatives to extend its useful life. This
generally used for liquids such as milk, fruits vegetable juices and
beer.
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
❖ HOT FILLING – means heating the food to a target temperature then filling into
bottles while hot. This is usually done for highly acidic products such as ketchup
and pickles, which contains a lot of vinegar.
• It is also use in high salt sauces and high sugar products like jams,
jellies and preserves.
❖ STERILIZATION - the term means no visible microorganism is present,
sterilized products are not really sterile because any heat process given will
always leave a probability of survivors.
• Further heating makes the probability smaller and smaller but
does not totally eliminate such possibility.
▪ Kinds of Sterilization
a. Water Bath or Open Kettle Processing- the process temperature is 100 ⁰C.
and used for acidic foods.
b. Pressure Processing – above 100 ⁰C, used in low acid foods.
c. Aseptic Processing – ultra high temperature of 135-140 ⁰C.

❖ ASEPTIC PROCESSING - the product and the container are sterilized separately
then come together for filling in a sterile chamber.
• The technology requires special aseptic equipments and is
applicable only to liquids and semi-liquids or liquid with solid
particulars.
• The rapid heating and cooling of the products guarantees
microbial and enzyme destruction while much of the flavors.
• The process requires extremely high investments needed for
aseptic equipment.
• Aseptic food preservation methods allow processes food to
keep for long period of time without preservatives, as long as
they are not opened.

Significant Temperature in Heat Processing

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240-250 ⁰F Canning temperature

140- 212 ⁰F -- Canning
for low acid vegetables, meat and
temperature for acid
poultry in a pressure canner. 180-
fruits, tomatoes,
212 ⁰F--- canning temperatures are
pickles, and jellied
used to destroy most bacteria,
products in a
yeasts and molds in acid foods.
boilingwater canner.
Time requires to kill these
decreases as temperature increase.
140-165 ⁰F--- warning temperatures
prevent growth, but may allow
95-140 ⁰F Maximum survival of some microorganism.
storage temperatures
for canned foods.
DANGER ZONE
Temperature between 40-140 ⁰ F
allows rapid growth of bacteria,
50-70 ⁰F best storage
yeasts and mold.
temperature for
canned and dried
foods. 32-70 ⁰F Cold Temperatures permit
slow growth of some bacteria,
yeasts and mold.
0-32 ⁰F Temperature
water freezes 0-32 ⁰F Freezing temperatures stop
growth of microorganisms, but may
allow some to survive.

Below ⁰0 F Best storage

temperature for frozen foods.

CANNING OPERATIONS
CANNING - is the process in which food is placed in cans or jars with
lid on or in suitable retortable flexible containers, and heated to a
temperature that destroys microorganisms and inactivates enzymes.
• This heating and later cooling forms a vacuum seal. The vacuum
seal prevents other microorganisms from recontaminating the
food within the container.
• Heat processing kills microorganism that contaminate the food
and cause food spoilage and/or foodborne illness. Processing can
be done in a water bath canner or a pressure canner depending on the food’s acidity.
▪ High acid foods (pH 4.5 and below) and acidified foods can be safety
processed in a boiling water bath canner..
▪ Low acid foods (pH above 4.5, such as vegetables, fish, meat) must be
processed in a pressure canner.
Raw Material Handling – the quality of raw materials is directly related to the quality of the
finished product.
✓ Other factors includes observation of hygienic practices particularly the
implementation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
Pre- Treatments –covers all the range of operations involving preparation before filling into
cans or other containers.
Pre-cooking – for some products, pre-cooking is needed. This is usually carried out in various 29
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ways using steam, water, oil, hot air or smoke or a combination of these.
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
Filling – fill weights and fill temperature are monitored because both affect the heating at the
slowest heating point in the container during retorting. It may affect on the safety of the
product, so it should be carried our under strict control.
Exhausting – is the removal of air from the food in the container. The removal of air will
ensure a vacuum in the canned food.
▪ Vacuum in canned foods is obtained by heating the food before or
after filling the containers. Heat is employed to expand the product
and rive out occluded or dissolved gasses and to rarify the air in the
head space prior to sealing/capping.
▪ Heating can be accomplished by passing the open container in a steam
or hot water exhaust bath.
Vacuum is necessary for the preservation of canned/bottled foods for the following reason:
a. Prevention of distortion of containers during thermal
processing.
b. Maintenance of can ends or bottle caps in concave position
during normal storage.
c. The reduction of oxygen which can react or discolor the
products. Sealing – a successful sealing is an essential factor in
canning, whether the container is made of metal, glass or
laminates of plastics and foil. A seal defect or failure will make
the product unsafe and not shelf stable.
Canning Equipment
✓ Water Bath – a large deep kettle that has a cover and a rack to hold jars is
adequate. It should be deep enough to allow water or extend 1 to 2 inches over the
top of the jars with enough room for the water to boil briskly.
✓ Pressure canner – is a deep, heavy kettle that has a rack on the bottom for jars
to stand on, a tight fitting lid with a gasket and pressure gauge. The gasket keeps
steam from leaking out around the cover. A dial gauge has a needle that moves
along a numbered scale to indicate the pressure inside the canner.
✓ Exhausting Steamer – is also needed. This may be a regular steamer or a
water bath where filled jars are heated up to a temperature of 83 to 85 ⁰C at its
slowest heating point.

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 FOOD PROCESSING 1

Lesson 6 : CONCENTRATION AND SUGAR PRESERVATION______

Another application is the partial removal of water so that a
concentrated products result; and the addition of more solute like salt
and sugar so that the liquid phase of the food material will be more
concentrated. The former is a concentrated process and the addition of
sugar is generically called sugar preservation.

Concentration Processes have the following Purposes:

• As a preparatory step to dehydration, example is the
preparatory step to drying of instant coffee.
• To reduce the bulk of the material which will be preserved by either freezing or
sterilization, example is orange, apple and grape juice.
• As the sole method of preservation. Example is maple syrup.

Methods of Concentration
• EVAPORATION – is the removal of water by vaporizing the water content of the
material. This is done by hating to boil off the water from the food material.
o Many natural constituents of foods are however volatile and heat
sensitive. Heat is needed to evaporate the water will also destroy the
natural flavoring constituents and other food characteristics such as color
and texture. 31
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
• FREEZE CONCENTRATION – this method of concentration takes advantage of
the higher freezing point of water relative to solutes. The product, like a natural
fruit juice extract, is subjected to partial freezing at a temperature when the water
portion crystallizes as ice leaving a more concentrated solution still unfrozen. The
ice crystals are then separated.
o Some industrial applications of freeze concentrations are in the
concentration of wines and beer and the concentration of coffee prior to
freeze drying.
• MEMBRANE CONCENTRATION - the principle involved here is placing a
semipermeable membrane between two fluids of varying concentration and
establishing a condition that will allow the transport of water across the
membrane. The water will move into the solution of higher concentration to
equilibrate the system.
o This is known as Osmotic pressure, if the mechanical force applied to
exceed the osmotic pressure, water is forced to move down the
concentrated gradient (from low temperature to higher temperature). o
The membrane concentration methods are:
▪ Reverse Osmosis (RO) – the membrane separation occurs because
of a pressure difference that separates water from other
components in the original solution. It is used in water
purification to make purified water.
▪ Hyperfiltration- is the same method as reverse osmosis.
▪ Ultrafiltration (UF) – the pressure gradient allows the membrane
to fractionate components of a liquid as a function of their
solvated size and structure. The membrane configuration is
usually cross-flow. The membrane pore size is larger allowing
some components to pass through the pores with the water.
▪ Diafiltration – is a specialized ultrafiltration where the retentate is
diluted with water and refiltered to reduce concentration of
soluble permeate components or to increase concentration of
retained components.
• Obviously, these methods are bit too high tech for small scale processors.
• OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION - immersion of food material in a solution with water
activity lower than the food is the essential of osmotic drying. Solutions of sugar
and salt are usually used.
o Some fruit processor in the phil., are also use salts as the osmotic agent,
salt being cheaper than sugar, prior to syruping. Synergistic effects
between sugar and salt have also been observed.
o Osmotic drying is more of a preliminary treatment or a complimentary
process to other preservation methods such as freezing, pasteurization
and sterilization, as well as drying and dehydration. It can of course stand
on its own but shelf life would be limited.

SUGAR PRESERVATION 32
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
The principle of this technology is to add sugar in a quality that is necessary to
•
increase the osmotic pressure of the product’s liquid phase at level low enough to
prevent microorganism development.
• In practice, it is common to partially remove water from the product by boiling, with
the objective of obtaining a higher sugar concentration prior to actual addition of
sugar. Sugar concentrations of 60% in the finished products coupled with the heat
treatment given during the concentration, generally assures food preservation,
assuming no post heating contamination occurs. Most sugar preserved products such
as jams have 65-69% sugar.
• Storage conditions of the finished product should avoid excessive temperature and
maintain sanitary conditions.
• Sugar is used to preserved fruits which are cooked in syrup to attain a concentration
of 40-60% or to saturated sucrose sugar level.
• The fruits may be whole, cut or pureed or it may be a fruit juice extracted or a
combination of fruit juice and pulp.
How Sugar Preserve the Fruit
• Fruits contains from 70-90% of water, when they are cooked in syrup the osmotic
pressure of sugar draws out this water as well as that from the microbial cells.
• In local sugar preservation, acid does not seem to feature as in important
ingredients in the process, but if present in judicious amount it aids in the
preservation. Other component which is not given much importance in local sugar
preservation of fruit is pectin. This substance ties up with water when a gel forms in
the presence of suitable concentrations of sugar and acid. Water is thus unavailable
to the microorganism.

Products and Basic procedures in Sugar Preservation:

JAMS – are thick, sweet spreads

made by cooking crushed or
chopped fruits with sugar. Jams
tend to hold their shape but are
generally less firm than jelly.
o These products are
generally fruit preserves
except that the fruits is
reduced to a fine or
course pulp by grinding
or grating. The fruits
should be uniformly soft
at the
start. Juicy fruits contain
enough water from syrup while less juicy fruits needs additional water to
dissolve the sugar and soften the fruits thereby releasing the pectin before the
sugar becomes concentrated.
o Jams are packed in sterile containers and pasteurized just like fruit preserved.
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
JELLIES – are usually made by cooking fruit juice with sugar. A good product is clear
and firm enough to hold its shapes when turned put of the containers, yet quivers when
moved.
o Since jelly is a fruit products the juice extracted by boiling finely cut or ground
fruits with a judicious amount of water and acid for 15-30 min and then straining
through a muslin bag. The juice must be tested for pectin and for the acid before
cooking the jelly.
o Jelly is best cooked rapidly in a small amount at a time to a concentration of
sugar which has a boiling temperature of 105°C or when the jelly leaves a spoon
in a sheet. This endpoint has been satisfactory tested by allowing a small amount
of jelly to drop reaches the bottom glass of water. The hot jelly is poured into
sterile jars and melted paraffin poured on the surface to protect it from mold
growth

PRESERVES – are spreads containing small amount of fruit or uniform-size pieces in

clear, slightly gel syrup. The fruit should be tender and plump.
o The main objective in cooking preserve is to gradually but thoroughly impregnate
the fruit pieces with sugar.
o Fruits good quality makes superior products. Such as quality has to do with
ripeness which influences flavor, texture and color and soundness meaning not
spoiled or defective. Fruits may be hardripe or soft or eating type.
o They are washed and cut if the fruits are large like papaya or kondol. Skins, seeds
and fibrous materials are removed.
o Sugar to Fruit Ratio: the general rule is to allow here-fourth part of sugar to one
part of fruit by weight. Enough syrup to cover the pretreated fruit id prepared
with part of this sugar to start with. Fruits are simmered for 5-10 minutes, cooled
and allowed to plump from the diffusion of the syrup.
o To minimize mashing up of the fruits, the syrup without fruits is boiled and
concentrated each time, the pour over the fruits in the plumping container. The
final syrup should be as viscous as unheated eggwhite or molasses.
o For preserve that are to be stored for some time before use, the preserve are
packed with the hot syrup in sterile jar, sealed and then immersed in hot water
kettle and allowed to stand in boiling water for 5 min or in simmering water at
82°C (180°F) for 20 min. the heat treatment insures the preservation of the syrup
fruits from mold growth because of a partial vacuum in the head space.

CONSERVES – are jam like products that may be made from a mixture of fruits. They
may contain nuts, raisins, or coconut.

MARMALADES – are soft fruit jellies containing small pieces of fruit or peel. They often
contain citrus fruits.
o Marmalades are made from fruits that answer the requirement for jelly
preparation. They are usually associated with shreds of orange peel suspended in
a jelly. Other fruits like guava, santol or papaya slices or pieces may be used.
o Marmalades is actually a fruit preserved with a good quality of pectin-containing
fruit extract cooked with a suitable amount of acid and sugar to the jelly endpoint 34
105°C. After pouring it into jars, it may be stirred occasionally to distribute the Page
 FOOD PROCESSING 1
fruits through the jelly base. It is protected from molds growth by a coat of
paraffin just like the jelly.

CANDIED AND GLAZED FRUITS – these products which are made exactly like the
fruit preserves. The fruits are drained from viscous syrup, rinsed lightly in water. And
placed on racks to dry.
o When no syrup can be squeezed out of the fruits these may or may not be rolled
in sugar and then packed. The fruits may sugar off after drying because the syrup
in it became saturated.
o Fruits with acid either normally present or added to the syrup will dry without
sugar crystals and end up as a glazed fruits. The acid acts on the sucrose to form
invert sugar in the sucrose syrup will hinder sucrose crystallization and thus form
a non-crystalline glazed on the fruit.

FRUIT BUTTERS - are sweet spreads made by cooking fruit pulp with sugar to a thick
consistency. Spices are often added. Butters are not gelled.

FRUIT PASTE OR PASTILLAS – this kind of sugar preserve is cooked from ground
fruit pulp and sugar until dry to an almost solid mass. It is poured on a greased surface
while hot and cooled slightly, flattened to one half inches thickness and cut into
uniform pastillas. The pieces are rolled in sugar and wrapped individually in
cellophane. o It is good to remember that the product is soft when hot but becomes
firm on cooling provided the right concentration of sugar is reached at the endpoint.

Essential Ingredients:

FRUIT – for best color, flavor and consistency, choose ripe fruit (shape is irrelevant).
Slightly underripe fruits (usually ¼ slightly underripe and ¾ fully ripe) is recommended
for jelly. Full characteristic fruit flavors are needed for a good jelly.

PECTIN – it is a carbohydrate, it is formed from substance found in the cell walls of

fruits, and particularly concentrated in skins and cores. The conversion of these
precursor substances to pectin occurs naturally during ripening and can also be formed
by long cooking, as in the traditional methods of making jellies without added pectin.
o Fruits vary a great deal in how much pectin or pectin precursor are present.
Strawberry and pineapple for instance are low in pectin, while papaya, guava,
santol, apples and citrus fruits are high in pectin. Pectin can be extracted from
high-pectin fruits and added to low pectin ones to make better jellies with less
cooking.
o Pectin provides the structure and a kid of stiffness in jellies and jams by forming
a water-holding network within the juice or crushed fruits.
o Many consumers prefer the added pectin method for making fruit products for
these following reasons:
▪ Fully ripe fruits can be used instead of a mixture of ripe and unripe fruits.
▪ Cooking time to set is shorter, so there is no question when the product is
done.
▪ The yield from a given amount of fruits is greater.
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ACID – is needed both for gel formation and flavor. The acid content varies among fruits
and is higher in underripe fruits. When fruits are low in acid, lemon juice or citric acid
may be added.

SUGAR – must be present in the proper proportions with pectin and acid to make a good
gel. Sugar also prevents the growth of microorganisms in the products and contributes to
the taste.
o Granulated white cane sugar is usually used. Brown sugar and Molasses are not
recommended because their flavors overpower the fruit and give dark products.
Part of the sugar may be replaced with light corn syrup or light mild honey.

Strength of Jelly
Continuity of Rigidity of Structure
Structure
Pectin Concentration Acidity (pH Value) % of Sugar

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.2 3.45 low 67.5 High

Optimum Hard Optimum No gel Weak Optimum Crystallization
gel

Interrelationship of Factors Affecting Jelly Strength

Equipment and Containers

• 8-10 quart saucepan- for making jelly, because it allows even heat distribution and
volume control.
• Jelly bag or suitable cloth – needed when extracting juice for jelly.
• Jelly, candy or deep fat thermometer – should be used to determine doneness in jellied
fruits without added pectin.
• Boiling water bath canner – is necessary for processing shelf life fruit spreads.

SELECTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR JELLIES,

JAM,MARMALADES AND PRESERVES

In sorting and grading fruits and vegetables, the following qualities must be considered:
➢ Wholesomeness
➢ Cleanliness
➢ Freedom from undesirable substances
➢ Uniformity of size
➢ Freedom from blemishes
➢ Desirable aroma, color, flavor and texture
➢ Nutritive value
• A mixture if slightly underripe and ripe fruits is best for jelly-making. They are high in
acid and pectin content. If overripe fruits are used, the pectin changes into pectin acid. 36
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 FOOD PROCESSING 1
Pectin acid will not form into jelly. Too green fruits, on the other hand, will not have
enough flavor.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD FINISHED PRODUCTS

A. JELLIES
a. Clear, transparent, and have an attractive color
b. Retain their form, quivers and do not flow when removes from containers
c. Retain the flavor and aroma of the original fruit
d. Texture is tender
B. JAMS
a. The color is bright, thick and smooth when spread
b. Retain the natural flavor and aroma of the fruit
C. MARMALADE
a. A good marmalade should be of jelly-like consistency and not syrupy
D. PRESERVES
a. Sparkling and glistering
b. Retain the natural color and flavor of fruits
c. Plump, soft and tender

PROBLEMS IN JELLY MAKING

CONDITION (Product
usable unless Spoilage CAUSES PREVENTION
Indicated)
➢ Fruits used was deep ➢ Fruits should be firm ripe
Jelly is cloudy
green ➢ Fruits should be cooked only
under it is tender
➢ Fruits may have been ➢ To obtain the clearest jelly
cooked to long before drip through cotton flannel
straining bag
➢ Pulp may have been ➢ Next time work more
squeezed from fruit quickly
➢ Jelly was poured into ➢ Upon reaching jelly point,
jar too slowly pour the mixture quickly
➢ Jelly mixture was into jars and seal.
allowed to stand
before it was poured
into jars

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➢ Too much sugar was ➢ Too short cooking period

used resulting in the sugar not
➢ The mixture has been being dissolved completely
cooked too little and not mixed thoroughly
➢ The mixture may have with the fruit juice
been cooked too slowly ➢ Cook little longer
or too long ➢ Long, slow cooking result in
➢ Undissolved sugar too much evaporation of the
which stuck to the pan water content of the fruit
was washed into the ➢ Ladle jelly into the jars
jelly as it was poured instead pf pouring it, or
➢ If jelly is grape, the carefully wipe side of the
Jelly contains glass like pan to remove sugar crystals
crystal may be tartaric
particles with a damp cloth before
acid, the natural
substance in grapes filling jars.
from which cream of ➢ Allow juice to stand in
tartar is made refrigerator for several days;
then strain it through two
thickness of damp
cheesecloth before
preparing jelly. Use canned
juice. If sediment is at
bottom of jar carefully pour
juice off so as not to disturb
sediment.

END POINT DETERMINATION

Determining the end point of jelly, jam, marmalades or other sugar preserves can be
done in one of the following manners.
• SHEETING TEST – is done with a basting spoon. If the jelly or jam coats the
spoon and drops forming a sheet instead of falling in separate droplets, the jelly/
jams is done. It takes a lot more experience to do this well.
• REFRACTOMETER READING – with a soluble solid scale is convenient and easy
to use. A drop of the cooking jelly/jam is read on the refractometer. The reading
of 67.5 % soluble solids is the end point. Other endpoints may be used by
manufacturers according to their own standard procedures.
• TEMPERATURE – thermometer reading is also a convenient way. A reading of
5°C to 6°C above the boiling point of water is sufficient.
• COLD WATER TEST – a sample of jelly or jam being cooked is dropped into a
saucer with cold water. A firm mass formed is an end point indication.

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