More harmful than moisture is oxygen for foods from plants or animal origin. It causes lipid oxidation and provokes rancidity especially when the packaging of food allows light transmittance.
Exposure to light in combination with even low levels of oxygen in food packages may facilities microbial growth, thereby causing a significant reduction in the shelf life of foods.
Oxygen can have a detrimental effect on different food products. It can increase the rate of staling in bakery goods, negatively affect the quality of some fish, e.g. salmon, trout, contribute to discoloration of cooked meats and herbs and also be instrumental in the degradation of vitamins.
Oxygen is also one of major factors deteriorating quality of frozen foods. It oxidizes lipid components nutrients, and pigments deteriorating flavors and colors even at low temperature of frozen state.
Aerobic spoilage microorganism can grow in the presence of oxygen. Thus, removal of oxygen can help maintain the quality of the food and shelf life of the product.
The absence of oxygen retards growth of aerobic microorganisms, which may have significant impact on microbial spoilage and food safety in the storage of the foods.
Influence of oxygen on food quality
