Microbial growth in foods is one of the leading causes of food spoilage. To preserve foods it is necessary either to destroy of all microorganisms that contaminate it or to bring about conditions that prevent the microbes from carrying out their ordinary life processes.
Although preservation is aimed mainly at microbial spoilage, it must be remembered that there are other types of spoilage factors such as oxidation.
Over the years, many food preservation technologies have been developed and these include:
*Chilling
*Freezing
*Reduction in water activity
*Acidification
*Fermentation
*Chemical preservative
*Compartmentalization
*Heating
*Vacuum and modified-atmosphere packaging
*Physical technologies
Preserving foods
