On a general note, food preservation is vital to human health all because it stops food from different forms of spoilage. It keeps people safe from harmful bacteria, and cuts down on waste. It also allows us to enjoy seasonal fruits and vegetables all year long. It helps to move food safely to far places, and saves money for homes and businesses.
In specific terms,food preservation slows down or stops tiny germs, molds, and enzymes from rotting the food. It destroys bad bacteria so people do not get sick from eating old food.
With regards to reducing waste it lowers the amount of food thrown away at home or on farms. As for improving shelf -life it guarantees
year-round supply and makes seasonal food ready to eat during any month of the year. Processing allows food to travel long distances without going bad.
Considered from the economic perspectives, it saves money by lowering costs for families and helps food stores to avoid losing goods. But the methods of food preservation has changed over time and it is necessary to know where we are coming from with the traditional methods. And where we are heading to with modern technology.
Over time, traditional food processing methods in Nigeria relies on indigenous, low-cost techniques passed down across generations. These manual methods focus on turning raw crops like cassava, yam, and grains into safe, storable, and edible foods through fermentation, sun-drying, and hand-pounding.
Fermentation involves soaking grains or grating tubers (like converting cassava to garri, fufu, or lafun) to remove toxins, improve taste, and extend shelf life. While pounding and grilling focus on using wooden mortars and pestles to dehull grains or grind corn, melon seeds (egusi), and yam into fine flours sun-drying is a different ball game. It is the spreading of vegetables, grains, and meat in the open air to remove moisture and prevent spoilage.
On its part, smoking and roasting involve using open wood fires or hot sand stirring pots to cook, dry, and preserve fish, meat, and peanuts.
Most of these tasks rely heavily on manual physical effort, particularly by women in rural areas. But the production capacities are small compared to industrial manufacturing.
Viewed from the hygiene and loss risks, open-air drying and traditional handling can expose food to dust, dirt, and microbial contamination. That was then but this is now. Indeed, several things have changed.
Precisely, latest food preservation technologies focus on non-thermal methods that keep food fresh without losing nutrients or flavor. The key breakthroughs include High-Pressure Processing (HPP), edible plant-based coatings like those from Apeel Sciences, cold plasma, and smart modified atmosphere packaging.
On its part, Non-Thermal Processing High-Pressure Processing (HPP): uses extreme water pressure up to 120,000 psi to crush bacteria in juices, meats, and seafood without heat.
Next comes Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF). This sends short high-voltage shocks through liquid foods like milk and juices to tear apart cell walls of bad microbes. As for Cold Plasma, it applies ionized gas to zap pathogens right on the surface of food without changing its texture or requiring synthetic chemicals.
According to experts in the field of processing advanced Protective Coatings and Materials Edible Plant Skins are invisible, plant-derived lipid layers which act as a second skin on fresh fruits and vegetables to lock in moisture and block oxygen.
As for Silk-Protein Films, they are extracted silk proteins which coat delicate items like berries to slow down breathing rates and decay.
Ethylene Absorbers are special sachets and pallet covers that trap ripening gases in transit to extend the shelf – life of produce without extra ice.
Storage Active Packaging involves the use of films and stickers embedded with oxygen scavengers or moisture absorbers which actively tune the micro-climate inside food packages.
Not left out of modern food processing techniques is the use of Precision Humidity Rooms. They are advanced cold-chain rooms which maintain temperatures near 0°C with near 100% controlled humidity to keep fruits fresh for months without freezing them.
Beyond the knowledge of these new techniques is their application so as to increase the safety, and availability of sundry food items, more so in this testy period of insecurity that has placed Nigeria 115th out of 123 countriesvon the Global Hunger Index, ( GHI ). So serious the situation is that the country holds a dismal score of 32.8, which places the country in the ‘serious’ hunger level category.
Both the government and the private sector need to improve the people’s access to the modern technology on food processing and subsidize the costs. That would enhance food security and safety.