The sterilization process not only extends the shelf life of the food but also affects its nutritional quality such as vitamin content. It is a function of several factors such as the product heating rate, surface heat transfer coefficient, initial food temperature, heating medium come-up time, Z value for the quality factor, and target F ref value (Silva et al., 1992).
The objective of thermal sterilization is to produce safe and high-quality food at a price that the consumer is willing to pay. Thermal sterilization of canned foods has been one of the most widely used methods for food preservation during the twentieth century and has contributed significantly to the nutritional well-being of much of the world's population (Teixeira and Tucker, 1997). A relatively small percentage of shelf-stable foods are processed before packaging, using aseptic filling (Heldman and Hartel, 1997). The majority of shelf-stable foods are thermally processed after being placed in the final containers. Thermal sterilization has been used to achieve long-term shelf stability for canned foods and is now used for a broad range of products.
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