Food Preservation and Storage

Back to: HOME ECONOMICS JSS 2

 

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In today’s Home Economics class, We will be discussing Food Preservation and Storage. We hope you enjoy the class!

 

 

PRESERVATION AND STORAGE OF FOOD

CONTENT

• Food Preservation and Storage
• Meaning of Food Preservation
• Reasons for Food Preservation
• Food Preservation Methods
• Meaning of Food Storage
• Types of Food for Storage

 

FOOD PRESERVATION

Food preservation is caring for or treating food in such a way that it will keep in good condition for a long period of time. It can also be defined as the practice of keeping food for a long time before it is being used. This is done to keep the food as near to the fresh state as possible. Preserved food can be stored for a longer period than unpreserved food.

Food preservation can be done by:

• Changing the form of the food to another through processing and keeping them in a specially designed container.
• Adding other substances.

 

REASONS FOR PRESERVING FOODS

1. To preserve seasonal foods in and out of season especially fruits and vegetables.
2. To prevent scarcity.
3. To prevent food spoilage.
4. To eliminate the purchase of foods when they are most expensive.
5. To have a variety of foods available.

EVALUATION

1. What is food preservation?
2. State three reasons for preserving foods.

 

 

FOOD PRESERVATION METHODS

We have different methods of food preservation based on:

• The nature of the food to be preserved.
• The length of preservation period required.
• The dish to be prepared with the food.

The common ones are:

1. DRYING: This is the process by which the water content of food is removed. It is an effective way of preserving some vegetables, maize, beans, cassava chips, etc.
2. SMOKING: Foods like fish, meat, and root crops can be preserved by smoking. In some cases, the smoked food items are later subjected to solar or sun drying.
3. FREEZING: This is the process of keeping food at a low temperature below 0ºc in the upper part of the refrigerator or in the freezer. Perishable foods are best preserved using this method. The food items get frozen thereby preventing spoilage.
4. CANNING: This is a method of preserving foods by sealing them in an airtight container and applying heat. Foods such as baked beans, sweet corn, etc. are preserved by this method.
5. FERMENTATION: This is the process of decomposing some food components to produce acids. The acids so produced will reduce the pᴴ of the food and hence makes the food unfavourable to microorganisms. Examples of such foods are locust bean seed, yoghurts, wine, etc.
6. USE OF CHEMICALS: Some chemicals such as vinegar, salt, sugar, etc. are added to food to inhibit the action of enzymes, prevent chemical reaction to take place in food all in an attempt to create an unfavourable condition for microorganisms.

 

EVALUATION

1. List and explain any three methods of preservation.
2. State two factors that determine the preservation methods used for a particular food.

 

 

FOOD STORAGE

Storage of food is the act of keeping processed and unprocessed food at home for future use. It involves keeping preserved or purchased food in a safe condition and suitable facility until when needed. Foods that are not properly stored may become useless within a short period of time. Therefore it is necessary to store food correctly so that it will last longer and remain in good condition.

 

Importance of Proper Storage of Food

1. It prevents food from spoilage.
2. It prevents loss of food nutrients.
3. It helps the homemaker to save money.
4. It saves time and energy of going to the market always.

 

 

We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

In our next class, we will be talking about Classification of Foods for Storage. We are very much eager to meet you there.

 

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