FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Food is a mixture of many different chemical components. The study of food technology involves an understanding of the changes that occur in these components during food preparation. Many physical and chemical reactions occur during food preparation. These reactions may be a result of the interaction between components, with the medium of cooking, and the environmental conditions such as heat, cold, light and air to which they are subjected during cooking. It also includes understanding the nutritive value of different foods and methods of preserving them during cooking.
The six major components of food are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and water. To maintain good health, ingesting a diet containing these nutrients in correct amounts is essential. A balanced diet is one which contains different types of foods in such quantities and proportions so that the need for calories, proteins, minerals and vitamins is adequately met and a small provision is made for extra nutrients to withstand short duration of leanness. Nutritionists have grouped foods depending upon the nutrient content.
The process of subjecting foods to the action of heat is termed as cooking. Foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts are eaten raw but most of the foods are cooked to bring about desirable changes. Preparations of food includes cleaning, peeling and stringing, cutting and grating, sieving, soaking, processing, coating, blanching, marinating, sprouting, fermenting, grinding, drying and filtering.
Cleaning is applicable to vegetables, fruits and many others food products. Other aspect of cleaning is washing and is applicable to fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses and non-vegetarian foods. Washing fruits render them dirt free. Washing cereals or dhals help to remove husk, mud and any other unwanted matter. Hard vegetables are scrubbed under cold running water. Peeling and stringing: These methods involve the removal of nonedible or fibrous portion of fruits or vegetables. Peeling brings about loss of nutrients present under the surface of food, hence the product should be boiled or blanched and then peeled e.g. vitamin C in potatoes. Colour of beet root can be preserved better when it is cooked with the skin. Cutting and grating: Dividing the food into smaller pieces is cutting. Sieving is done to remove coarse fibres and insects and also in preparing cakes for blending of flour with backing powder. Soaking is done in water either plain or salted with sodium chloride or sodium bicarbonate. Roasting: This process should be grouped under actual cooking methods but certain recipes demand roasting as pre-preparation. Foods generally roasted are rava and vermicelli.