Advances in Food Processing and Preservation

Food processing is a process that transforms agricultural products into food or one kind of food to other forms. Grinding grain to make raw flour, home cooking to complex industrial methods that are used to make convenience food are some of the forms that are involved in food processing. There are three types of food processing methods- primary, secondary and tertiary. The aim of primary food processing is to make food edible, while secondary food processing deals with the conversion of the ingredients to familiar food. Food preservation is a method that prevents the growth of microorganisms. It also stops oxidation of fats that cause rancidity in food. It involves preventing processes which results in visual deterioration such as enzymatic browning in fruits and vegetables after being cut. Some of the methods for food preservation are cooling, freezing, pickling, boiling, pasteurization, vacuum packing, irradiation, etc. These methods help in maintaining or creating nutritional value, texture and flavor of the food. The topics covered in this extensive book deal with the core aspects of food processing and preservation. It discusses the fundamentals as well as modern methods of food processing and preservation. This book will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers.