COLD STORAGE

AND
FOOD PRESERVATION

In this topic we are going to study about Cold Storage. What is Cold Storage? What is use of
Cold Storage? Why to keep food in Cold Storage? What is Food Preservation? How to
preserve Food? What are processes of Food Preservation? Types of Food Preservation? Let
me give you a quick review of this topic. Due to problems related to nature food products
get affected, and these problems can cause food spoilage and then can cause harm to our
health. The main work of refrigerator is to keep food safe and disease free. Cold storage as
we all know is the basic food preservation method. During winters we have to keep food
inside a refrigerator so that it won’t get dry and we can keep fruits and vegetables in
refrigerator for longer duration of time in winters. Some foods are preserved by homemade
methods like pickling, canning, dehydration, etc, and some food can be preserved in natural
state. We will be also studying why COLD is a key which helps in preventing food spoilage.
Let me tell you here only, it is because cold temperatures assault with growth of micro–
organism that harm the food like bacteria, yeast and molds. We keep our food in
refrigerator in order to keep bacteria, molds and yeast from the favourable temperature
they need to grow…………. etc.,.

Let’s study all these in full details.

COLD STORAGE
What basically we understand by the term ‘Cold Storage’? A small place inside a refrigerator
in which food stuffs are kept in case to avoid any kind of food spoilage, it is low storage
application of refrigeration. Basically we can say that it is a full A.C. room which is cooled at
very lower temperature over a cooling coil and then it is supplied back to the refrigerator.
The product kept in cold storage decide what kind of conditions to be maintained in cold
storage. As we know we know apples, butter, milk, eggs, fish, grapes mangoes, etc., have
some storage period. But noticing the fact that bananas don’t have any storage period,
instead there is a ripening period. After ripened, bananas cannot be stored and 14.C is the
best temperature for slow ripening. For milk, 0.5.C is the storage temperature is and is -0.6.C
is maximum temperature. So, if we want our milk dose not freeze we have to maintain the
air tolerance somewhere near 0.C and for pasteurization process it is same. The ice–bank
type water chillers are also used to permit the use of a refrigeration system having less
capacity, and to supply chilled water at a constant temperature of 0.C.

 COLD STORAGE DESIGN

We need cold storage in our homes and it is our job to provide the smallest cold
storage room and low consumption power to be used, so we need to make the cold
storage room such that it is as small in size and the consumption power to be used
as low as possible. As experts says, 10 – 15 cm thick insulation is applied on the walls
and ceiling, common insulation material used are thermocole and poly–urethane
foam (PUF). Thermal conductivity of, thermocole = 0.037 W/m .C and PUF = 0.0173
W/m .C respectively. If you notice carefully PUF has half the value of thermal
conductivity of thermocole, PUF is therefore preferable to thermocole. Some of
sources for cold storage that use load calculation (for 24–hour period), are:
(i) Transmission Load
(ii) Air Change Load
(iii) Miscellaneous Load (like electric motors, lightning, etc.,)
(iv) Product Load, Sensible
(v) Product Load, Respiration
Although most of refrigeration load is due to transmission, air changes and product,
the loads due to lightning, motors and people working should not be overlooked.
The various components of Product Load are:
(i) Sensible – product to storage temperature, this amount of heat is removed.
(ii) Latent – freezing the product, this amount of heat is removed.
(iii) Respiration – fruits and vegetables are living kind of things they also comes
into changes when stored at low temperature release heat of this type.
 NOTE: product load is calculated on per hour basis then a correction factor for taking
into account is taken other than 24–hours must be applied as follows:
24 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
𝑃𝑢𝑙𝑙 − 𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
As we have discussed earlier product decides the choice of relative humidity to be
maintained in the room and also the refrigeration temperature. Higher the humidity,
higher the refrigeration temperature. How to select and locate fan-coil:
(i) Direction of air should be there, where there is maximum heat gain (i.e., near
ceiling and walls),
(ii) Total supply of air = 40 to 80 changes/h, because dehumidified rise is very
low.
Many of knows about simple cold storage only but this is only for small quantity, but
suppose if we want the cold storage in large quantity? Introducing a new kind of cold
storage that is ‘Jacketed Cold Storage’, this type of cold storage is used if the supply
of air quantity is large. The supply of air can be made to flow in a jacket all around
the store along the walls.
Products from farms should be shifted to industries with the help of ‘TRANSPORT
REFRIGERATION’. So let’s discuss about transport refrigeration. Refrigerated transport is
the main link of cold food chain, some salient features of transport refrigeration are:

 Refrigerated Trucks and Trailers – refrigerated to maintained temperatures

near 1.5 to 4.C for cold foods. Different types of refrigeration systems are,
using
(i) Water Ice – top product can be iced comfortably. It is considered to
be the best method for short distances. 335.4 KJ/KG is the melting
point produced by refrigeration effect.
(ii) Dry Ice – mainly used in small trucks for the delivery of frozen items
such as ice–cream, chickens, etc.,. Type of cooling which occurs is
NATURAL CONVENTION. Care must be taken to avoid any burns due
to low temperature.
(iii) Liquid Nitrogen Spray – this also used for transportation of frozen
food. Normal boiling point is –195.6.C, extremely very low
temperature from the point of view of COP and refrigeration
economy. Therefore, liquid nitrogen is not recommended if it is not
available as a by–product.

 Refrigerated Railway Cars – most of them uses ice chest with water ice or
salt mixture. It is provided with an independent diesel generator that the
refrigeration is independent of the car moment, and 20 kW is the basic
capacity of generator.
  Marine Refrigeration – one additional feature of marine transport that is the
varying climate because they travel the whole world and temperature
ranging from very hot to cold. Fittings and Insulations should be varying for
both warm and cold temperatures, and vapour barrier should be provided
on both sides of the insulation for moisture. Refrigeration is used in ships
used for cargo and stores passenger ships, and it is also used in trawlers for
fishing. In cargo, the basic requirement a refrigeration system should have is
that it should be able to provide any temperature between –23.5.C and
12.5.C. In addition to cargo, ships must have their own bigger stores for
passenger vessels. Fishing vessels use ice for short distances from the shore.
 Refrigeration in Air Transport – in some passenger aircraft, the cargo
compartments are cooled before shipment. For transit refrigeration, if
necessary, refrigerant packages of water ice, dry ice or other substances are
used.

COOLING AND HEATING OF FOODS

Most of food technologies involves unsteady state heat transfer. The analytical solution to
𝑑𝑇 𝑑^2T
differential equation =𝛼 for certain unsteady heat transfer situations have
𝑑τ 𝑑𝑥^2
been plotted in a series of graph called Gurnie–Lurie chart. Below the chart represents this
solution the temperature as a function of time and position in an infinite slab being heated
or cooled,

Gurnie-Lurie Chart for Cooling and Heating of Slab

Here:
1. T∞ = Ambient Temperature
2. T = Temperature at time τ
3. r = Distance from centre line to point under consideration
4. rm = Half thickness of infinite slab
5. fg = Heat transfer coefficient at slab surface
6. k = Thermal conductivity of slab
7. ρ = Density of slab
8. Cp = Specific heat of slab
9. τ = Time of heating or cooling
10. X = r/rm
The figure gives a plot of the dimensionless temperature ‘θ’ against
Fourier number ‘Fo’ with the Biot number ‘Bi’ as parameter. The

T∞−T
Dimensionless temperature ‘θ’ is defined by θ = where ‘Ti’ is the initial uniform
T−Ti
temperature of slab. The Fourier number ‘Fo’ is defined as where

α = k/ρCp (thermal diffusivity of the material). The parameters ‘X’ and ‘Bi’ define
respectively the dimensional distance X = r/rm and the ratio of convective resistance to the
conductive resistance, Bi = fgrm/ k, (Bi is the Biot Number)

FREEZING OF FOODS
Fish, meat, vegetables such as beans, sprouts, carrots, spinach, etc, are some common
products that are preserved by freezing. Most importantly, freezing requires removal of
heat and the product from which heat is removed falls in temperature as shown in graph
below:
i. First Stage – involves sensible cooling, temperature rapidly falls to freezing
temperature below 0.C.
ii. Second Stage – extraction of latent heat of fusion during which the temperature
change is very little, when about 75% of water is converted into ice, the temperature
begins to fall again in next stage,
iii. Third Stage – in this remaining water is frozen.
Types of freezers:
i. Air Blast Freezers – cold air is directly blown on the product.
ii. Contact/Plate Freezers – direct contact of product with refrigerator surface.
iii. Immersion/Spray Freezers – product is immersed in or sprayed with a liquid
refrigerant.
Air blast and contact types of freezers are mostly used in industry. For quick freezing in air
blast, air flow rates should be higher, high air velocity means shorter freezing time but more
fan power. 5 m/s is the minimum air speed recommended for most purposes.

FREEZE DRYING
It is known as the successful process of liquid separation from a product in a frozen state,
under vacuum. Presently, main problems to the application of the process are:
i. Higher cost of the freeze dried product by sublimation dehydration.
ii. Low temperature refrigeration to pre-freeze the product.
iii. Complicated controls.
iv. Long duration of freezing-drying time.
If we see cost is not determining factor for the manufacture of certain products including
drugs, high value food products such as mushrooms, prawns, etc.

HEAT DRYING OF FOODS

When the moisture content of foods is reduced to 5–10 per cent, the micro–organism
become sufficiently inactive. Dehydration by heating is thus the most economical method of
food preservation. The process of drying takes place in two stages:
i. Constant Rate Product – the surface of product remains wet and its temperature and
evaporation rate remains constant. The primary resistance to heat transfer and mass
transfer is at the surface. When the constant rate period ends, then
ii. Falling Rate Period begins, moisture content of material is termed as the critical
moisture content.

FOOD PRESERVATION
The very first question comes to every Human mind is that, how “FOOD SPOILAGE” occurs?
Firstly we will have to understand what Food Spoilage means – the original flavour/taste,
nutrition, protein of the food are damaged, become unfriendly and ungraceful to eat. Now
let’s take some common factors due to which food becomes unfriendly and ungraceful to
eat, these are due to changes in BIOLOGICAL FACTORS, CHEMICAL FACTORS & PHYSICAL
FACTORS. Let’s get into this one by one.

 Biological Factors – the main factors involved in food spoilage are Micro-organism
such as Yeast, Bacteria and Molds. Yeast – occurs in Fruits and Vegetables. Bacteria –
basically occurs in open canned goods like milk, eggs, meat, etc. Molds – these prefer
high sugar foods like Cheese and Bread.
 Chemical Factors – caused by Enzimatic (i.e. enzyme reactions) and Non-enzimatic
reactions (i.e. non-enzyme reactions). I’ll not get into much more detail of this but
main factors that affect chemical spoilage are pH, Temperature, presence of oxygen.
 Physical Factors – main physical change that caused food spoilage is Evaporation,
and Drip Loss. Evaporation – water evaporates from food when not kept in
refrigerator, then dries the food and gets affected. Drip Loss – water lost (syneresis)
out of foods like milk and yogurt.
As common people we know a lot about Food Preservation because these are processes
that we often use at home but we must also remember that this has industrial uses,
commercial uses and it is infact very important and interesting area. As we all know that we
have so much of food production but due to food spoilage we have to throw and what
actually happens that large proportion of food is lost. The same process takes place at home
as well and we know we have to throw food because it is getting spoiled. So we all would be
in interest to know how to stop food spoilage and this stopping of spoilage is known as
“FOOD PRESERVATION”. Now let’s see the basic principles of food preservation.

 Kill Micro-organism – this basic means if we kill micro-organisms (the basic cause of
food spoilage) then we can reduce the chances of food getting spoiled and can
preserve better.
  Destroy Natural Enzymes – due to chemical changes, the enzymes that are already
present naturally in the food can get certain type of chemical reaction that will lead
to changes in food like flavour, texture, etc, and can make a donation to food
spoilage.
 In-activation Of Micro-organism – this simply means that a micro-organism present
in the food is inactive in some way like it is slow in process which can happen at later
stage so that we can prevent food spoilage, or suppose if we give some kind of
chemical treatment to make that micro-organism inactive can reduce spoilage of
food.
 Control Factors Responsible For Food Spoilage – the very important factor is
presence of moisture, pH, temperature, water activity, and the composition of gases
surrounding the food in storage, if we try to control these some factors we can really
reduce the spoilage of food.

Going further let’s talk about the processes that we can employ in food preservation. If we
look this closely we can see that there are two types – either PREVENT or DELAY of
Decomposition. Now let’s see what happens when we prevent or delay decomposition (or
self-decomposition) by Micro-organism and by Enzymes. First let’s see what is the meaning
of decomposition and self-decomposition, when some external factor (like physical factor)
cause food spoilage to our food then it is known as decomposition. Suppose you have an
apple that is being kept for 4-6 days, inside that apple due to chemical factors there will be
some enzymatic reaction going on that can cause food spoilage, and this is known as self-
decomposition.
Next we will discuss some method by which we can preserve food, how to fight with
Microbial Decomposition……

 The first this is simply the use of High Temperature – suppose we are boiling water
with very high temperature for longer duration so that micro-organisms can be
killed.
There is a certain temperature between (16.C – 38.C) in which bacteria, yeast and
molds are likely to be happy, they grow rapidly and thus leads to spoilage of foods.
(82.C – 93.C) this is the temperature range in which most bacteria are killed. High
temperature at high pressure are required to destroy bacterial spores.
 Low Temperature – it may not as useful as high temperature. Low temperature
cannot kill micro-organism but can inactivate the micro-organism for some time.
Growth of most micro-organism is slow at temperature below 10.C.
 Drying – as we all know sun-bath is the best method to dry something like ‘papad,
red-chilli’. In this also the micro-organism are not necessarily killed they are usually
inactivated because the water present in micro-organism is very high and the
moment this water gets evaporated so this cause sudden stop in their growth. It
doesn’t cause destruction of all micro-organism.
  Use of Acids – oranges, lemons, tomatoes, are some of food stuff that naturally
contains acids. In simple way to be known that, micro-organism hates acids and they
don’t grow properly. Micro-organism are very sensitive to acids.
And it can also increase the killing power of heat.
 Majority of Sugar and Salt used – this is most often used in homes and in commercial
areas also.
 Smoke – the food stuff which we see roadside like meats and fishes, smoking is the
main role here because this is the way in which food is preserved. When the smoke
comes in contact with food there are some chemical reactions that will take place
and this can cause death of micro-organism.
 Removal of Air – when removing air from we are also removing the oxygen present
in the air, so what really happens that micro-organism are not getting oxygen, and as
a result we see slowing down the growth of micro-organism.
 Chemicals – chemical reactions taking place inside.
 Radiation – Sprouting. Radiation can kill micro-organism. Now the question is
different rays like gamma rays etc, are they affecting the food or not this research is
still going on.
Now, let’s get into our homes and see what methods do our mothers uses to preserve food
spoilage. They uses two natural methods which are being used since old times and these
methods are ‘Pressure Canning Method’ and ‘Boiling Water Method’.

 Pressure Canning Method – most of us was thinking that the pressure in the cooker
kill the bacteria but that’s not done, the high temperature inside the cooker for a
very long time kills the bacteria. Taking an example of ‘Burpee Bean’.
Step I – Vegetables are washed properly.
Step II – Preparing the vegetables, like chopping it and putting it in a pan for boiling
for packing it into the jars. Side by side the empty jars are warming in the canner.
Step III – Cooking the Beans so that they can be packed into the jars.
Step IV – Filling the boiled beans into the warmed jars, and putting on the lid.
Step V – Putting the jars into the canner.
Step VI – Evacuating the steam and closing the cap of canner.
Pressure now begin to start inside the canner creating temperature above the boiling
temperature. After all this, now allowing the canner to naturally cools down and brings the
temperature down to zero. Take out the jars filled with beans and let it keep alone for 12-14
hours. If we see the jars in next 12hrs we see that there will be some moisture on the glass
and this shows that bacteria are killed, and this is known as pressure canning method.
Boiling method is kind of similar method to pressure cane method, in boiling method the
vegetables are boiled with very high temperature. The acids in the vegetables mixes with
heat and thus kills the bacteria.
Air conditioning for comfort is one of the most common application of refrigeration.
However, most important application of refrigeration is in food preservation, either it is by
processing or by storage. Processing is done by heating, heat drying, etc., and by
refrigeration such as chilling, freezing or freeze-drying. Storage may be of either chilled or
frozen product. Some of the products involved in processing are candy, meat, fish, bakery,
dairy products, fruits and vegetables, precooked foods, etc. Now, the common products
that are preserved by storage after chilling are fruits like apples, grapes, etc., vegetables like
onions, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. Storage under frozen conditions is resorted to for
preserving the food as well as to store products over a long period. Common items of frozen
food are fish, meat, poultry, and some vegetables such as beans, peas, carrots, etc. Now
these fruits and vegetables are not grown in industry or somewhere, but they grows in farm.
The question now arises that how these farm products go in various industries, as these
products cannot be send directly, if sended products will get wasted by atmospheric air. So
to transport these products we use transport refrigeration.

SOME EXAPMPLES OF FOOD PROCESSING BY REFRIGERATION AND STORAGE

 Candy Manufacture – the main constituents are sucrose and glucose and in some
rare cases dextrose also, these are very sensitive to temperature and/or humidity.
Depending on temperature and humidity they change to liquid form. Accordingly,
temperature must not be higher than 21.C and the relative humidity should not be
less than 60%. As we all know chocolate is the main item of candy and cocoa is its
main ingredient, the freezing point of chocolate is 30.C. At 45.C chocolate becomes
soft and will deteriorate fast in quality. Its latent heat of fusion is approximately 70-
93 KJ/KG. Average value of specific heat before freezing is 2.34 KJ/KG and after
freezing is 1.26 KJ/KG respectively.
 Beverage Processing – beers, wines and carbonated drinks are some of basic main
items. Beer is manufactured from malted barley. Refrigeration is also required in the
stock cellar where the beer is retained from 3 weeks to 3 months for ageing, and in
the finishing cellar where it is polished by filtration and carbonation. The carbon
dioxide produced during fermentation is liquefied for use for carbonation later.
Refrigeration is required in three stages for wine making, these three stages are;
(i) control of temperature during fermentation,
(ii) removal of excess potassium tartrate by cold precipitation, and storage.
Wine quality is mostly affected by temperature of fermentation for which red wine
should not exceed 29.C and white wine it should not exceed more than 15.C. The
quality of wine also depends on length of storage, sometimes require a low
temperature around 7.C. In carbonated drink manufacture plants, refrigeration is
required to cool the water, syrup or finished product.
  Bakery Products – bread is the main product of bakery. Limiting temperature of
dough (mixture of flour and liquid) should not be much more than 24–25.C, so if we
add water around 2 to 4.C it will be colder and more useful. Refrigeration is needed
in the manufacture of other bakery products also.
 Poultry Products – meat is main product of poultry and it is preserved by both
freezing and chilling. Chilling offers a lower quality whereas freezing offers high
quality and flexibility in performance. Majority of meat products are transported and
processed by liquid chilling (with the help of flake ice). Time required for cooling of
7.C is around 115 minutes. Cooling is also required in poultry farm for transportation
of meat (in cold storage). Temperature of 24.C is recommended for poultry keeping.
 Fishery Products – refrigeration in wide range used in the processing, preservation
and transportation of fresh and frozen fish and related products. In many cases
fishes are stored in tanks using cold sea water at 1.C. Storage life of chilled fish is
about 10–15 days. These days more and more fishes are getting frozed.
 Dairy Products – most dairy plants pre-cools milk to 2.5.C before processing for the
separation of cream. There are both hot and cold milk separators. Shaking is also
done and refrigeration is also required for cooling the cream, for better use. Butter
Storage, temperature of 0.C to 4.C is to be maintained and same follows for some
frozen products also. Thus, butter can be kept in freezer for storing for a long period
of time about six months or more. There is another manufacturing industry which
makes awesome use of it and that is Ice–cream manufacture. The ice-cream freezer
has to whip in a certain amount of air in the mix.

REFERENCE

 Food Processing & Preservation – B. Sivasankar

 Food Preservation – Youtube
 Food Preservation – C.P. Arora (Third Edition – 2006)
 Fruit & Vegetable Preservation – R.P Srivastava, Sanjeev Kumar
 Cold Storage – Youtube
 Cold Storage For Fruits & Vegetables
 Practical Cold Storage (Primary Edition)
 Cold Storage – C.P. Arora (Third Edition – 2006)
 Refrigeration & Air Conditioning – Eastop
NAME – ANURAG SINGH
ENTRY NUMBER – 2016UMEJ0085
EMAIL – [email protected]