Articles
NEW TRENDS IN THE PRESERVATION OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS
The conventional methods of preservation, i.e. drying, canning, cold storage and freezing have played a noticeable role in preventing or delaying the spoilage of a great portion of the world’s agricultural production during the past decade.
As for the quality of the preserved fruits and vegetables or their products, these conventional methods do not improve or keep it efficiently.
This means that these methods of preservation are faced by some technical problems concerning their effects on the color, texture, flavor, odor and even on the nutritive value of the preserved product.
The economical point of view is also an important factor governing the comparison between the different methods of preservation.
The food technologists have invented new methods for food preservation such as partial freezing, irradiation, freeze-drying, cryogenic freezing as well as the application of antibiotics.
The application of these new methods for the preservation of horticultural crops and their products still needs further investigations and detailed research work.
In the Food Technology Department of Reyad University and also in the food Science Department of Ain Shams University in Egypt, the author and his co-workers carried out some investigations on two of these new methods of preservation, namely the freeze-drying and the irradiation.