METHODS OF FOOD PRESERVATION BY

USING HIGH TEMPERATURE

UADAL SINGH
ASSOC. PROFESSOR (HORT)
 HIGH TEMPERATURE METHODS
• Heat is one of the oldest methods of destroying microorganisms
and their spores in food processing and preservation.
• Development of several high temperature based methods like
boiling, roasting, baking and other heat treatments are the greatest
advance in food hygiene because such methods kills all the forms
of microorganisms (vegetative and spore) and make the food safe.
• Most commonly used methods of heat treatment used for food
preservation are cooking, canning, pasteurization, sterilization,
UHT etc.
 PASTEURIZATION
• It is named after its inventor French chemist, Louis
Pasteur (1822-1895).
• He used the application of heat to destroy human
pathogens in foods.
• The purpose of pasteurization is to increase milk safety
for the consumer by destroying disease causing
pathogenic microorganisms that may be present in milk
and to increase keeping the quality of milk products by
destroying spoilage microorganisms and inactivating
enzymes that contribute to the poor quality and shelf life
of milk.
• In general, pasteurization is a process of heat treatment
of milk and other beverages, requires adequate holding
time to assure the thermal destruction of pathogens and
microbes accountable for food spoilage, without any
changing in the nutritional qualities.
• Milk is a food product that is pasteurized worldwide, but
some other foods are normally pasteurized in certain
parts of the world:
• Canned foods: such as meats, vegetables and fruits that are generally heated in the can or
container itself to kill the microbes effectively.
• Juices: most of the tetra pak and bottled juices are pasteurized first before.
• Low-alcoholic beverages: such as juices, these beverages are also heated and cooled before
filling.
• Water: the bottled water is usually pasteurized and in places where polluted water is available.
• Practically, Pasterurisaton involves heating the food to a specific temperature for a definite time
and then cooling quickly.
• Usually, the temperature applied and the holding time of pasteurization vary with the
equipment available and the type of milk or food product (table 10.1).
CONTD…
• For pasteurization of milk, the time-temperature combination is carefully
selected on the basis of the thermal death time of the most resistant pathogens
(such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that may be present in raw milk and
keeping the maximum temperature and time at which the nutritional and other
qualities of milk (like taste and palatability) are retained.
• At dairy industries, routinely milk is pasteurized at 62.8°C for at least 30
minutes or at 71.7°C for at least 15 seconds or if using ultra-high temperature
(UHT) at 135°C for 1–2 seconds.
• UHT processed milk is sterilized (all forms of life are killed) and this lengthens
its storage time but does affect the taste and other values.
 Minimum pasteurization requirements for milk and milk products.
Pasteurization Type Specific Holding Time Example of Product StoragenCondition
Temperature
62.8oC Milk
Batch (vat) Pasteurization
65.6°C 30minutes Viscous products or with more than 10% fat or
added sweetener
68.3°C Egg nogs, frozen dessert mixes etc.
71.7°C Milk
High temperature short 74.4°C 15 seconds Viscous products or with more than 10% fat or
time Pasteurization (HTST) added sweetener Refrigerated
79.4°C 25 seconds Egg nog, frozen dessert mixes etc.
82.2°C 15 seconds
88.3°C 1.0 second
Higher-Heat Shorter Time 90°C 0.5 second
Milk
(HHST) 96.2°C 0.05 Second
100°C 0.01 Seconds
137.8°C 2 Seconds Milk and cream Refrigerated for
Ultra Pasteurization (UP)
extended storage
Ultra High Temperature 135-150°C 4-10 seconds Milk Room temperature
(UHT)
Sterilization 115.6°C 20 minutes Canned products
Effect of pH of food on the temperature - time requirements of the pasteurization process
 LIMITATIONS:

Though, this method kills the pathogens or bacteria present in the raw milk
and makes is safe to consume without any health risk but there are few
limitations discussed below:
• due to loss of certain enzymes in food during pasteurization process, some
people believe that raw milk is a better option to pasteurized milk.
• It is believed that milk pasteurized with HTST method may lose 1/3rd of the
thiamine present in the milk and half of vitamin B12.
• Survival of heat resistant pathogens has increased the risk of the presence of
bacteria even after pasteurizing the food.
 STERILIZATION
• It is a method of destruction of all microorganisms using temperatures above 100°C.
• For complete sterilization of foods, the time and temperature required are much
influenced by a number of factors like the type of microorganisms found on the food,
the size of the container, the acidity or pH of the food and the method of heating.
• In general, the thermal processes of canning are generally designed to destroy the
spores of the bacterium C. Botulinum (can easily grow under anaerobic conditions,
producing the deadly toxin that causes botulism).
• In sterilization process, heating to temperatures greater than 100°C and however, C.
Botulinum is not viable in acidic foods (pH less than 4.6), therefore, such foods can be
adequately processed by dipping in water at temperatures just below 100°C.
Contd….
• For low-acid foods (pH greater than 4.6), the sterilization is generally carried out in steam
vessels called retorts at temperatures ranging from 116° to 129°C and the retorts are
controlled by programmed devices and detailed records are kept of the time and temperature
treatments for each batch of processed cans.
• At the end of the heating cycle, the cans are cooled under water sprays or in water baths to
about 38°C and then dried to prevent any surface rusting.
• The cans are then labeled properly, placed in fiberboard cases either by hand or machine and
stored in cool and dry storerooms.
• Limitations:
• Practically, canning has no major effect on the structure of carbohydrate,
protein or fat content of foods and vitamins (A and D) and β-carotene are
resistant to the effects of heat but a significant loss of nutrients, mainly heat-
sensitive vitamins (vitamin B1), may occurring the canning process.
• Likewise, the anaerobic conditions of canned foods have a shielding effect on
the stability of vitamin C but it is destroyed during long heat process.
 ULTRA-HEAT TREATMENT (UHT)
• It is also called, ultra pasteurization (UP), the most widely used pasteurization
process for milk in Europe and throughout the world ( gaining popularity in the
united states and Canada too), is a more recently developed process of sterilization
of food by heating it for an extremely short period, about 1–2 seconds, at a
temperature exceeding 135°C.
• Generally, such temperature is required to kill spores in milk. Application of high
heat during the UHT process can cause Maillard browning and change the taste
and smell of dairy products but not significantly.
• Although, the most common UHT product is milk, but the process is also used for
fruit juices, cream, soy milk, yogurt, wine, soups and honey.
• When UHT process is coupled with sterile packaging (tetra Pack), creates an
extended shelf life of milk UHT milk from six to nine months, until opened.
Contd….
• At industrial scale, the UHT milk passes through heating and cooling stages in
rapid succession, then is immediately put into a sterile tetra pak shelf-safe carton
to avoids any re-infection.
• Such product, lasts up to six months without refrigeration or addition of any
preservatives. Specially, the tetra pack made of paperboard, obtained from wood
from selectively harvested (regrown trees), is used to make the package more
stable and lightweight.
• Thin layers of polyethylene (a common plastic), are added to seal in the liquid
and protect it from external moisture content and a thin layer of aluminum foil
protects products from oxygen, flavors and light.
• For the environment tetra pack cartons are biodegradable and more efficient to
transport than heavier packages or refrigerated products
 LIMITATIONS:

• Most of people believe that enzymes in raw milk aid

digestion and calcium absorption and their specific health
benefits are debated within the scientific community.
• It is true that the uht and htst pasteurization processes
reduce enzymes in the milk.
 COOKING
• This method is usually used to improve palatability rather than to improve storage quality of food.
• It is also called boiling, is the process of using heat to water until the temperature reaches about
100°C.
• Although, boiling of foods in water cannot completely destroy all microbes, but the actively
growing (vegetative) cells of bacteria and fungi (yeasts and moulds) are generally quickly destroyed
at this temperature if maintained for a sufficiently long period of time, helps the heat to completely
penetrate the foods and kill the microorganisms.
• Bacterial spores (extremely resistant to heat) not killed at this temperature, although their growth is
prevented such as spores of Clostridium perfringes and Clostridium botulinum (an organism present
in non-acid and semi-acid foods like peas, corn, green beans, meat etc. and produces injurious
toxins in food), being highly resistant to heat.
• Botulin (toxin) is inactivated by boiling foods for at least 10 minutes and the spores of such
bacteria are easily destroyed only if food is cooked under pressure and destruction by heat is
affected by time and temperature variation.
• However, some enterotoxins (produced by staphylococci) are not easily inactivated.
• The thermophilic microorganisms may survive the effects of boiling and improperly handled cooked
food are rapidly cause food spoilage whenever environmental conditions are favourable for them.
 LIMITATIONS:

• Generally, cooking destroy the spoilage causing microbes and

reduces the possible risk of disease transmission but it can damage
the food’s qualities (i. e. Appearance, texture and flavor etc.) and may
also destroy some important vitamins.
 OHMIC HEATING
• In most of the used heating techniques for
liquid depends on heat transfer from a hot
surface and such heat can be generated
directly via an electrical heating element or
indirectly from a hot medium (like steam).
• In general, such methods need a temperature
gradient to transfer heat to the process liquid
and we know that these surfaces are at a
higher temperature than the product.
• Thus, this can cause fouling of the surfaces for
certain products which become burnt onto the
hot surfaces reducing heat transfer rates and
negatively affecting the quality of product.
Contd…..
• An another problem with heat transfer is found when heating very viscous fluid and fluids
with particulates where effective, even heat transfer is very difficult to achieve without
compromising the quality of food product.
• To overcome, these issues, an ohmic heater (also known as a joule heater) can be used in
which electrical heating device that uses a liquid’s own electrical resistance to generate the
heat.
• In such process, the fluid is heated directly by passing an electrical current (usually AC)
through the product and its own electrical resistance causes heating throughout giving a
uniform temperature increase without any loss in performance for high viscosity or low flow
rates.
• Ohmic heaters are extensively used in food industries for successful heating of conductive
and pumpable products like dairy or milk based foods, tomato products, fruit juice, liquid
egg, jams, soups, casseroles.
 CANNING
• It is one of the most widely used method of preserving food, in which the food contents are processed (using heat to
appropriate temperature and for a prescribed time to destroy micro-organisms, including clostridium botulinum spores),
and sealed in an airtight container.
• Canning process was developed by Nicolas Appert.
• Generally, this practice provides a typical shelf life extending from one year to five years, though under specific
circumstances a freeze-dried canned product like canned dried lentils can last as long as 30 years in an edible condition.
• In the process of canning, there is a careful preparation of food packed into a sealed tin, glass or plastic container which
is subjected to defined high temperatures (above 100ºc) for an appropriate period of time and then cooled.
• During heating there is a removal of oxygen and further hermetic sealing of containers to avoid post-process
contamination and boiling the food in the container to kill all the microbes and sealing the can (either before or while the
food is in boiling process) to restrict and further prevent any new microorganisms from getting in.
• After the thermal processing, the sealed container must be cooled immediately to a temperature of about 38ºc to prevent
unnecessary adverse effects of heat on the texture, flavour or colour of the food products.
• Thus, this sterilizes the food so it will keep for a long period without any risk of spoilage by unwanted microorganisms