Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 21 ISSUE 3
Written by Elena BONCIU, Ramona Aida PĂUNESCU, Elena ROȘCULETE, Gabriela PĂUNESCU, Cătălin Aurelian ROȘCULETE, Aurel Liviu OLARU

One of the specific features of food is perishability, and therefore it is very important to know and control the factors that influence their stability and the processes capable of producing qualitative changes and the possibilities of stabilizing them for as long as possible. The main factors which influencing the food stability are: enzymes, microorganisms and water content. The microorganisms and enzymes act on carbohydrates and lipids of the food and turn them through fermentation and putrefaction processes. As a result, the chemical composition of food undergoes changes and may appear the complete destruction of nutrients, the products becoming unfit for consumption. Increasing of the food product stability is necessary to eliminate the seasonal nature of consumption, to increase availability for consumers and to reduce losses of the perishable food. In this respect, is used some processes for the relative stabilization of food products properties, which involve various additional technological operations, as a result of which the products undergo physical, chemical and biochemical changes. Improving the food stability in safe conditions can be achieved by various processes which, in general, refer to the separation of microorganisms by physical processes; reducing or stop development of microorganisms; destruction by various means of microorganisms; combined methods. Technological processes are constantly evolving; more and more modern methods appear to extend the shelf life of a food. Notable examples in this regard are high pressure, radiations, ultra-short light pulses or magnetic field protocols. There are also microwave devices that have the same purpose - to preserve the nutritional properties of some food products for as long as possible.

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