category: food preservation

Sterilisation, sterilising

Sterilisation is a technique to prolong the shelf life of foods. In general the food products are heated to 110 to 135°C for about 15 to 20 minutes. For some canned products they are heated for up to one hour. All micro-organisms are killed during this process. After sterilisation the product is free of germs and, if stored correctly, have a shelf life of several years.

Unfortunately heat-sensitive vitamins are destroyed for the benefit of a long shelf life. Taste and colour of the food are also affected by the heat.

Sterilisation is used for foods like meat, poultry, vegetables, fruits and milk.

During the sterilisation of milk for example the process not only kills bacteria and germs. Its taste is changed considerably and important vitamins are destroyed. Furthermore the heat treatment lessens the biological value of the milk proteins.