IMPROVING SHELF LIFE OF FERMENTED FOOD

It is funny to observe the human behavior. When we say it is FERMENTED food they are willing to consume it eagerly. Yet if we tell them the same food as DECOMPOSED food, they will probably ignore or reject it.
Face the fact, fermentation process is a natural decomposition process which occurs naturally. While it is true in certain ways it is food preservation, the process has to a degree involved decomposition or metabolic transformation
The food preservation aspect is the result of the fermented products such as lactic or acetic acid which prevents the growth of other microorganisms that may enhanced decomposition. Or it could be the effect of high salt which prevent the growth of the other organisms.
The ability to preserve the fermented food is one of the challenges in the fermentation food industries. Too short a shelf life will make it difficult to store the fermented food or limit its availability for safe human consumption.
In cases of certain fermented food attempts to improve the shelf life of the products usually require the manipulation of low temperature or refrigeration combined with high quality packaging. But then again such a system could at best slow down the process of food spoilage and extend to a limit the shelf life of the fermented food. A good case is in the production and transportation and storage of milk based fermented foods
In extending the shelf life of the fermented food is not so much the issue. What is important is that changes that occur with the extended shelf life should not affect the quality and presentation of the fermented products!
This is the problem of marketing fermented foods which limit the volume of its production and the area of its distribution
Modern fermented foods have heavy inputs from food engineering and technology. Ingredients and other additives are frequently added to improve the quality and shelf life of fermented products
But this is only applicable in modern food fermentation industries but not at the level of traditional or small scale food industries


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