History of food technology
The beginning history of primitive food technology
The application of simple food technology has started since primitive times history, where people lived on the move and settled in one place for a certain period. When they settle down, they build houses.
Farming and hunting are done to meet food needs. Some crops are stored and used for seed purposes.
If the place they live in is not fertile, then they move to find a fertile place by bringing food and seeds to be sown in a new place. And so on. In the end history, humans began to live permanently in one place.
Start storing agricultural products in barns such as rice and wheat. But this is not the case with animal, vegetable, and fruit foods, which are very perishable and do not last long, especially in summer.
Food drying method
Then finally they use the sun's heat to dry food, especially meat and fish so that they can be stored for food supplies during the lean season. The drying method is referred to as one of the oldest (primitive) food preservation methods because until now it is still being carried out, but now it is accompanied or in combination with other preservation processing such as salting in salted fish, sugar in candied dried fruit, and so on.
History of modern food technology
The history of modern food technology began when Nicolas Appert (1804) canned food, a process that is still ongoing today. But at that time, Nicolas Appert applied it not based on food-related science.
The application of food technology based on science was started by Louis Pasteur in 1861. Louis Pasteur gave an explanation that actually heating can kill microbes and tightly closing bottles can prevent the entry of food microbes.
With this statement arises a food preservation mechanism called pasteurization in which the technique involves a lower temperature than the Appert sterilization temperature. So that the food preserved by pasteurization has a better taste than the Appert method.
Then the technique is applied to preserve acidic foods such as fruit and pickles. Because naturally these products are acidic, which has the power to kill microbes, so they no longer require total sterilization.
This conclusion was reached while trying to prevent microbial damage in a wine fermentation facility following a study of infected grapes. In addition, Pasteur also discovered a process called pasteurization, which is heating milk and its processed products to kill the microbes in it with minimal changes in the properties of milk.