How to maintain the freshness of the ingredients as much as possible

Refrigerators can be said to be a must-have appliance item for every family. Today’s refrigerators are rich in functions and are proficient in ice making, wine storage, and partition management. But in the final analysis, the refrigerator’s mission is to store ingredients, extend the shelf life of ingredients, and delay the deterioration of ingredients Therefore, refrigerators of various brands use eighteen solutions in pursuit of antibacterial and sterilization. It can be said that the antibacterial and sterilization technology of refrigerators is now relatively complete, but the pursuit is endless, and the shelf life has been extended, so how to maintain the freshness of the ingredients as much as possible?

After understanding from many sources, Qiuzheng found that there are three important reasons that affect the freshness of ingredients: the degree of oxidation, the loss of moisture, and the fluctuation of temperature.

Food material oxidation

Most life cannot survive without oxygen. From this point of view, oxygen is extremely important, but the existence of oxygen can also cause a chemical phenomenon-oxidation. This phenomenon is also very common in food materials. Oxidation can make the fat in the food deteriorate, and it can also make the food discolor, fade or destroy vitamins. The most common is that the cut apple is placed in a normal environment. After a period of time, the color of the cut surface will turn yellow and darker.

For anti-oxidation, we can take in fruits containing vitamin A and vitamin C, but even the food materials containing vitamin A and vitamin C will still undergo oxidation reaction. Fortunately, the food materials can be placed in a vacuum environment, which can not only create a The environment is not conducive to the reproduction of microorganisms, and at the same time, it can isolate oxygen to the greatest extent. The refrigerator does this. It uses a small vacuum pump to build a pressure-resistant closed structure space into an area that can quickly evacuate air. The vacuum environment can effectively maintain the original color and moisture of the ingredients, and prevent the ingredients from getting damp or dry. Reduce the chance of food materials coming into contact with the air, thereby inhibiting the oxidation of food materials.

Water loss

Water occupies an extremely important position in the organism. Most of the food ingredients are edible only when they are full of water, and they have a suitable taste and rich nutrients.

In the past, refrigerators used a direct cooling method. Although it is easy to form frost, it has relatively little effect on the moisture content of the ingredients. However, in order to solve the frosting problem, the new refrigerators have begun to adopt air-cooled refrigeration methods. Although air-cooling is good, it also has certain shortcomings. The working method of air-cooling is to take away the condensed moisture in the air inside the refrigerator through cold wind, so that the inside of the refrigerator is kept dry, but at the same time, it also takes away the moisture of the ingredients. The most intuitive phenomenon is that the raw noodles that have been blown dry out and become hard.

Therefore, after improvement, some refrigerators adopt a mixed cooling method of direct cooling and air cooling, but this cannot completely solve the problem of water loss. Therefore, refrigerators with dry and wet storage functions have emerged. Simply put, they are prepared to adjust the humidity. The more confined space can delay the moisture loss of ingredients to the greatest extent.

Temperature fluctuation

Although the temperature fluctuates, there is another medium among temperature and ingredients, which is the moisture mentioned above. Water is densely distributed in all corners of the food. When the temperature drops, the water will freeze inside the food. If the temperature fluctuates greatly at this time, coupled with long-term storage, it will provide conditions for the "growth" of ice crystals, which in turn will lead to ice crystals. Compress the cell wall, damage the inside of the food, affect the hardness and elasticity of the food, and cause the loss of nutrients. The most intuitive manifestation is that a lot of blood flows out when the meat is thawed.

In this regard, the refrigerator industry chooses to use quick freezing methods, such as the use of aluminum pan design to quickly absorb the heat of the food, and try to freeze the food in the shortest time to reduce the time for ice crystals to condense, and to minimize the chance of food cells being destroyed. In order to avoid excessive temperature fluctuations, brands will choose technologies such as uniform metal cooling or infrared constant temperature storage technology to ensure uniform cooling inside the refrigerator to solve large temperature fluctuations.

In general, the above three points are the most important means to delay the "aging" of ingredients, but it must be said that these technologies are almost only applied to some high-end refrigerators with high prices, and have not been popularized. However, the author also believes that with the gradual improvement of the quality of life, more and more people will pay more attention to the preservation of food ingredients. What follows is the R&D and investment in refrigerator preservation by refrigerator companies. Looking forward to the future, fresh nutrition Become the main theme on our table.