MICROBIAL FOOD SPOILAGE OF ANIMAL BASED PRODUCTS AND PRESERVATION BY USING DIVERSE METHODS

Abstract

Meat, fish, dairy and its products provide favorable conditions for the growth of microbes. These microbes cause changes in meat, fish and dairy products. The breakdown of nutritional components like Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and fats in them leads to the physical as well as chemical changes by enzymatic activities in them which is the main cause of their rejection to consume. To increase their shelf life and decrease the growth of microbes in them various methods and techniques have been introduced to preserve them. Most commonly food preservation is done from the time of their harvesting to reach to the consumers. This is done due to create a variety and for some additional nutritional components in different food stuffs. A comprehensive study is done on the preserving methods of these products to prevent them from spoilage. Previous data about their preservation reveals that salting, drying, freezing, fermentation, chilling and canning are better methods to prevent meat and fish spoilage and for milk, pasteurization is found one of the best methods to be used. But now a days due to the advancement technologies in the field of science various techniques like irradiations, UV radiations, osmotic pressure, and natural as well as synthetic preservatives are also available. After all these Techniques, there is still a big challenge to preserve these products in their natural state and other physical characters.