INTRODUCTION
Growth of microorganisms in a food material can
be inhibited by adding certain chemical
substances. However the chemical substances
should not be harmful to the human beings. Then
what should we add?
“PRESERVATIVES”. Preservatives are natural or
man-made chemicals that are added to foods to
stop them from spoiling. Many packaged foods
we buy need a preserving agent to keep them
from going ‘off’ and to protect us against food-
borne illnesses (food poisoning), which is why
these preservatives are used.CAN PRESERVATIVES BE NATURAL OR EASY?
We actually
‘preserve’ fresh =
foods ourselves =
every day, by storing |
foods in the fridge or
freezer. Smoking fish
or meats over
burning wood or coal
are also methods of °=
preservat
Natural preservatives
that can be added to
foods include salt and sugar.
CHEMICAL METHODS:-
Other preservatives that are commonly used in
foods in small amounts include sorbates, which
can be identified by the additive numbers 200-
203, benzoates (210-218), sulphites (220-228)
and propionates (280-283). Some nitrites (24fi-250) are also classified as preservatives. n our
country, two chemical preservatives which are
permitted for use are:
1. Benzoic acid(or sodium benzoate)
we
SODIUM
BENZOATE
—
your eed Neca longer ]
Remar
2. Sulphur dioxide(or potassium bisulphite)
Benzoic acid or its sodium salt, sodium benzoate
is commonly used for the preservation of food
materials. For the preservation of fruits, fruit
juices, squashes and jams sodium benzoate is
used as preservative because it is soluble in
water and hence easily mixes with the food
product.Potassium bisulphite is used for the preservation
of colourless food materials such as fruit juices,
squashes, apples and
raw mango chutney.
This is not used for
preserving coloured
food materials because
Sulphur dioxide
produced from this chemical is a bleaching
powder. Potassium bisulphite on reaction with
acid of the juice liberates Sulphur dioxide which
is very effective in killing the harmful micro-
organisms present in food and thus prevents it
from getting spoiled.
H + HSO, — SO, + H.O
The advantage of this method is that no harmful
chemical is left in the food.Il. At different concentrations and
Ill. For different intervals of time.
Materials
|. Beaker, pestle and mortar, glass bottles,
balance and peeler.
Il. Fresh fruits, potassium bisulphite and sugar.
Theory
Food materials undergo natural changes due to
temperature, time and enzymatic action and
become unfit for consumption. These changes
may be checked by adding small amounts of
potassium bisulphite. The effectiveness of KHSO3
as preservative depends upon its concentration
under different conditions which may be
determined experimentally.
Procedure
1. Take fresh fruits, wash them thoroughly with
water and peel off their outer cover.2. Grind it to a paste in the mortar with a pestle.
3. Mix with sugar and colouring matter.
4. The material so obtained is fruit jam. It may be
used to study the effect of concentration of sugar
and KHSO3, temperature and time.
(A) Effect of concentration of
Sugar: -
1. Take three wide mouthed reagent bottles
labeled as A,B,C.
2. Put 100 gms of fruit jam in each bottle.
3. Add 5.0 gms, 10.0 gms and 15.0 gms of sugar
to each bottle respectively.
4. Add 0.5 gm of KHSO3 to each bottle.
5. Mix contents thoroughly with a stirring rod.
6. Close the bottle and allow them to stand for
one week or 10 days at room temperature.
7. Observe the changes taking place in Jam every
day.Observation
Bottle | A B ¢
number
weight of 100gm 100gm 100gm
the jam
taken
Weight of 5gm 10gm 15gm
the sugar
added
Weight of 0.5gm 0.5gm 0.5gm
KHSO3
A B c
Colour Dark Dark Dark
orange _|orange _| orange
Odour Pleasant | Pleasant | Pleasant
smell smell smell
DAY 1 Fungus |Fungus /|Fungus | Fungus not |
not not formed
formed formed
Colour Dark Orange Light
| orange orange
Odour Pleasant | Pleasant | Pleasant
smell smell smell
Fungus Fungus Fungus Fungus notDAY 2 hot not formed
formed |formed |
Colour Dark Orange | Light
orange orange
Odour Pleasant |Pungent |Pungent
DAY 3 smell smell smell
Fungus Fungus — | White White
not fungus is | fungus is
formed |formed | formed
more in C
Colour Orange Light Light
orange _| orange
Odour Pungent |Pungent | Pungent
smell smell smell
Fungus White White Fungus.
DAY 4 fungus is | fungus turned into
formed has greenish
increased | colour
Colour Dark Light Yellow
orange _|orange _| colour
Odour Pungent |Pungent | Smells
smell smell ethanolic(C) Effect of Temperature
1. Take 100 gm of Jam in three bottles labelled as
A,B,C.
2. Add 10.0 gm of sugar and 1.0 gm of KHSO3 to
each bottle.
3. Mix the contents thoroughly with a stirring
rod.
4. Keep bottle No. | in the refrigerator at 0°C,
bottle No. Il at room temperature (25°C) and
bottle No. Ill in a thermostat at 50°C. Observe the
changes taking place in the jam for 10 days.
Result:
The increase in Temperature causes fast
fermentation of jam.
Bottl | Wt. of the jam | Wt. of the | Wt. of KHSO3
eno |taken sugar
A 100gms 5gms igms
B 100gms 10gms lgms
c 100gms i5gms lgmsObservation(days)
1 2 3 4 3
no no no No no
no no no no fermented
no no fermented | fermente |More
d fermentatio
n
(D) Effect of time: -
1. Take three bottles and label them as I, Il and
2. To each bottle add 25 g of Jam and 1 g of
potassium bisulphite.
3. Keep bottle A for 7 days, bottle B for 14 days
and bottle C for 21 days at room temperature.
4. Note the changes taking place in each bottle
and record the observations.
Bottle no Observation(days)
; | 7 14 21
A NO +e =
B NO | Taste changes +
Cc NO NO Unpleasant
smell.