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Bacteria, Fungi and Food

Food preservation methods aim to prevent spoilage by bacteria, fungi and other microbes. Traditional methods include drying, refrigeration and fermentation, while modern techniques involve canning, pasteurization, freezing and chemicals. Bacteria and fungi can grow rapidly in foods if conditions are suitable, as bacteria can divide every 20 minutes and fungi reproduce through spores. Controlling factors like nutrients, moisture, pH and temperature is key to inhibiting microbial growth and food spoilage.

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Huzaifa Qamash
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35 views1 page

Bacteria, Fungi and Food

Food preservation methods aim to prevent spoilage by bacteria, fungi and other microbes. Traditional methods include drying, refrigeration and fermentation, while modern techniques involve canning, pasteurization, freezing and chemicals. Bacteria and fungi can grow rapidly in foods if conditions are suitable, as bacteria can divide every 20 minutes and fungi reproduce through spores. Controlling factors like nutrients, moisture, pH and temperature is key to inhibiting microbial growth and food spoilage.

Uploaded by

Huzaifa Qamash
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Bacteria, Fungi and Food

Food preservation, any of a number of methods by which food


is kept from spoilage after harvest or slaughter. Such
practices date to prehistoric times. Among the oldest methods
of preservation are drying, refrigeration, and fermentation.
Modern methods include canning, pasteurization, freezing,
irradiation, and the addition of chemicals. Advances in
packaging materials have played an important role in modern
food preservation. Bacteria are unicellular organisms that
have a simple internal structure compared with the cells of
other organisms. The increase in the number of bacteria in a
population is commonly referred to as bacterial growth by
microbiologists. This growth is the result of the division of one
bacterial cell into two identical bacterial cells, a process called
binary fission. Under optimal growth conditions, a bacterial
cell may divide approximately every 20 minutes. Thus, a
single cell can produce almost 70 billion cells in 12 hours. The
factors that influence the growth of bacteria include nutrient
availability, moisture, pH, oxygen levels, and the presence or
absence of inhibiting substances (e.g., antibiotics). The two
types of fungi that are important in food spoilage are yeasts
and molds. Molds are multicellular fungi that reproduce by the
formation of spores (single cells that can grow into a mature
fungus). Spores are formed in large numbers and are easily
dispersed through the air. Once these spores land on a food
substrate, they can grow and reproduce if conditions are
favorable. Yeasts are unicellular fungi that are much larger
than bacterial cells. They reproduce by cell division (binary
fission) or budding.

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