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Food Preservation | Food Science | Food preservation is the action of keeping and maintaining a food so that it can be eaten at a later date. Often canned foods are preserved so they can last on the store shelves longer. Food preservation is a process by which certain foods like fruits and vegetables are prevented from getting spoilt for a long period of time. The colour, taste and nutritive value of the food is also preserved. Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage (loss of quality, edibility or nutritional value) and thus allow for longer storage.

Food preservation usually involves preventing the growth of bacteria, yeasts, fungi and other microorganisms (although some methods work by introducing benign bacteria or fungi for food), and slows the oxidation of fats which causes rancidity. Food preservation may also include processes that inhibit a visual impairment that can occur during food preparation, such as the enzymatic reaction of browning of apples after they are cut.

ManyProcesses engineered for preserving food involves a number of methods of food preservation. The preservation of fruit, making jam, for example, is to boil (to reduce the moisture content of the fruit to kill bacteria, yeast, etc.), sugar (to prevent re-growth) and seal an airtight container (to avoid contamination). There are many traditional methods of food preservation which limit inputs of energy and carbon footprint.

Maintaining or creating nutritional value, texture and taste is an important aspect of food preservation, while historically some methods radically changed the character of the food being preserved. In many cases these changes have now come to be perceived as desirable qualities - onions, cheese, yogurt and pickled are common examples.