Textbook in PDF format

The major techniques employed for food preservation have a long history f use. They include chilling; freezing; drying; curing; conserving; fermenting or otherwise acidifying; the addition of preservatives; heatpasteurisation and sterilisation.
Newer techniques more-or-less derived from these traditional procedures include the successful application of combination. Preservation or 'hurdle' methods, vacuum- and modified atmosphere-packaging, and continuous sterilisation coupled to aseptic packaging. More innovative techniques, such as the use of ionising radiation, are increasingly being employed.
At the same time, there is a reawakening of interest in even more radical approaches. The reasons for this derive principally from consumers' requirements for foods that are higher in quality, so less severely processed; more natural, so less heavily preserved; nutritionally healthier, so containing less salts, sugars and fats; and, with respect to food poisoning, with retained, or preferably improved, assurance of safety.
Some of these more radical approaches are chemically-based, some biological and some physical. A number of them build on current technologies whilst others are completely new. They include, for example, a continual widening of the combination procedures that can be effectively and safely used; new applications of modified atmosphere packaging; use of naturally occurring antimicrobials that are animal-derived ( e.g. lysozyme, lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin), plant-derived (e.g. herb, spice and other plant extracts) and microorganism-derived (e.g. bacteriocins); new and improved means for the accurate delivery of heat to foods ( e.g. by microwaves, by ohmic heating) so as to achieve the minimal processes necessary to ensure stability and safety; the use of high hydrostatic pressures to inactivate microorganisms in foods without the need for substantial heating, and with consequent minimal damage to product quality; the use of high voltage electric pulses for similar purposes; the direct and synergistic application of ultrasonic radiation to pasteurise and sterilise foods with the minimal application of heat; innovative food surface decontamination procedures aimed at greatly improving the safety of some foods of animal origin; radically new approaches to aseptic processing.
This book covers these major trends in such a way as to summarise progress already made and also to indicate potential for the future. It is directed at food companies involved in production, distribution and sale.
It will be of value to those in government and industry-sponsored food research institutes around the world. It will be useful for teaching courses in food science, home economics, microbiology and process engineering, etc., and for those engaged in food-related research in industry and academia.
I would like to thank the authors of the various chapters for their contributions, and also for their patience and cooperation during the preparation of this volume