More than a century of preservation with organic acids

1 More than a century of preservation with organic acids 

The ability to store large quantities of food has played a pivotal role in mankind s development. Evidence of food preservation dates back to the postglacial era, from 15,000 to 10,000 BC, and the first use of biological methods has been traced back to 6000 to 1000 BC, with evidence of fermentation processes used in producing beer, wine, vinegar, bread, cheese, butter, and yogurt (Soomro, Masud, and Anwaar, 2002). 

Evidence also exists that points to a notable award that was offered by the Emperor Napoleon of France in 1787 for anyone who could propose a way to preserve the food intended for the soldiers in the French armies. This award was won in 1809 by Nicholas Appert for his idea to put food in bottles, stopper them, and heat the contents, killing bacteria and preventing further contamination. However, he was apparently not aware at the time of the existence of bacteria and that they were the cause of the spoilage. In 1819 Peter Dunrand used metal containers to apply the same principle. These containers were called cannisters, which is the origin of the word can (Saint Xavier University, 2000). 

The cause of food spoilage was affirmed in 1864 by Louis Pasteur who showed that microorganisms in foods were the cause of such contamination. He subsequently found that microbes were killed by heating and that sealed containers could be used to preserve food by preventing recontamination from atmospheric air. 

Benzoic acid is the oldest and most commonly used preservative (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2003). In 1970 it was reported that sorbic acid had been proposed for extensive use as a preservative, but its safety-in-use had to be established before being added to the existing list of permitted food additives (Shtenberg and Ignat ev, 1970). A study done in 1956 reported on the use of sorbic acid as a preservative in fresh apple juice (Ferguson and Powrie, 1957). Worldwide, approximately 40% of food grown for human consumption is lost to pests and microorganisms (Saint Xavier University, 2000). The preservation process itself was of little public interest until a decade ago. Today it is one of the key issues addressed by every food processor (Marz, 2000). 

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