How to process and preserve food effectively

There are many effective and commonly used methods of food preservation. Given the current situation of agricultural products being congested and difficult to export, what can we do to preserve food longer and keep it fresher?

Freeze drying

Freeze-drying is a method of processing and preserving food using modern technology, applying the principle of reducing water in food to prevent bacteria from spoiling, helping the dried product retain its original color and flavor like fresh products.

The method of preserving food using freeze-drying technology can dry a variety of products such as fruits, seafood, vegetables, medicinal herbs, etc. In particular, the freeze-drying solution helps increase the value of agricultural products, ensuring export standards, and higher economic benefits compared to exporting raw agricultural products.

The freeze-drying method of food has many advantages such as: Maintaining food quality, prolonging preservation time, saving storage space, applicable to many types of food, not requiring much effort, eliminating the disadvantages of using high temperatures to process food...

Freeze-drying can be applied to most types of food, preserving them for a long time and maintaining their quality. Photo: Sasaki

Pickle

Pickling is a long-standing method of food processing and preservation, using the conversion of sugar into lactic acid, which is beneficial for the digestive system. This method is often used for vegetables such as carrots, radishes, cucumbers, eggplants, mustard greens, etc.

However, this method contains high salt content, is not good for heart health, kidneys, blood pressure, stomach... and cannot be preserved for too long.

Boxed

Canning is also a food preservation method commonly used for vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish. However, this method requires sterilization and clean preparation, otherwise it will have a major impact on health such as digestive diseases, intestinal diseases, and food poisoning. In addition, this method can only be used for a certain period of time, usually a few months.

Frozen

Freezing food for preservation is the most common method, using low temperatures to prevent bacteria from growing or functioning. However, if the product is not frozen immediately, it can lose its flavor and quality compared to fresh products.

In addition, you must defrost safely and use immediately afterwards so that frozen food is not exposed to room temperature for too long and does not lose nutrients in the food.

Salting

Using salt to preserve food is a way to take advantage of the salt concentration to kill most harmful fungi and bacteria. Meat and fish are often used this method. However, you can only preserve them for a short time and importantly, the food will absorb a lot of salt afterwards.

Smoked

Smoking is used to preserve meat, fish and meat products. Smoking uses heat to dry food, making it more flavorful and less likely to spoil. However, this method should not be used regularly because it can cause illness in humans.

Smoking is also a method of processing and preserving food but should not be used much. Photo: ST

Vacuum

The vacuum method cannot be used at home like pickling, freezing, or canning, but it requires the support of machinery. To preserve, you put food in bottles, boxes, or plastic bags and vacuum, creating an anaerobic environment so that microorganisms cannot grow.

Above are the methods of processing and preserving food safely, popularly and maintaining food quality. Depending on the conditions and amount of food to be preserved, you choose the method and capacity of the processing equipment to find the most suitable method.

According to Vietnamnet