ABSTRACT
Food preservation involves the action taken to maintain foods with the desired properties or nature for as long as possible. The process is now moving from an art to highly interdisciplinary science. Food preservation methods consider the use of or combination of inactivation, inhibition, and avoidance of recontamination of foods. This chapter provides an overview of food preservation methods, emphasizing the following: (i) use of chemicals and microbes; (ii) control of water, structure, and atmosphere; (iii) use of heat and energy; and (iv) enhanced preservation by indirect approaches. The final section discusses the factors that need to be considered in order to satisfy the present and future demands of consumers and law-enforcing authorities.
