Emerging Technologies Towards Food Preservation

Abstract

Modern food technology deals with further developing of traditional methods e.g. high-temperature short time heating or vacuum cooking and al so with procedures, that are taken over from different industry-branches and are adapted to food processing, e.g. extrusion, microwave-technology or high pressure-treatment. Newly developed food-technologies usually focus on a sparing preservation being careful with food quality attributes. Therefore, the frequently used concept of "minimal processing" is not absolutely apt, since actually, the principie "as little as possible, but as much as necessary" is meant. The newer physical methods for food preservation that have been developed in the last years and decades can be divided into thermal and non-thermal procedures. Special attention of research and development is on the non-thermal "cold" procedures. The expectation is that undesirable micro-organisms and enzymes are inactivated without damage to nutritional and sensory properties resulting normally from thermal treatment.