The key difference between boiling and pasteurization is that boiling can destroy almost all microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at high temperatures, whereas pasteurization can destroy microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at a low temperature.
Boiling is an industrial process that uses high temperatures to destroy all enzyme activity and almost all microorganisms in food. Pasteurization is an industrial process that is useful in preserving packaged and non-packaged foods.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Boiling
3. What is Pasteurization
4. Boiling vs Pasteurization in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Boiling vs Pasteurization
What is Boiling?
Boiling is an industrial process that uses high temperatures to destroy all enzyme activity and almost all microorganisms in food. Therefore, it is a very effective method of food preservation. We can easily destroy the microorganisms in acidic food, including fruits, using heating. Moreover, we need to use sealed and airless containers for boiled preserves in order to prolong the shelf life of the food.
Most commonly, we can use a combined method of boiling and canning for foods such as meat, fish, syrup, soda water, liquid medicines, etc. In most industrial food preserving methods, jars of food are heated by being completely covered with boiling water.
What is Pasteurization?
Pasteurization is an industrial process that is useful in preserving packaged and non-packaged foods. These foods include milk and fruit juice. In this process, the food is treated with mild heat (typically less than 100 Celsius degrees), which is helpful in eliminating pathogens, thereby extending the shelf life of the food. Pasteurization can destroy or deactivate organisms (and sometimes enzymes) which are responsible for the spoilage of the food and can cause diseases when we consume them. However, this process cannot destroy bacterial spores.
The name pasteurization comes after the scientist Louis Pasteur. He was a French microbiologist who demonstrated thermal processing of food could deactivate undesired microorganisms in wine. However, during this thermal treatment, unwanted enzymes were also deactivated. At present, pasteurization is helpful mainly in the dairy industry and some other food industries where we need food preservation and food safety.
During the process of pasteurization, we use a mild heat treatment on liquid food items. The temperature of the process remains under 100 Celsius degrees in order to prevent the phase change of the liquid state of the food. Moreover, the time and temperature required for the food item depend on the acidity of the food. Furthermore, we need to consider the nutritional and sensory qualities of the food when choosing the temperature for the process. There are two major ways of pasteurizing food: before or after packaging the food into containers.
Although pasteurization cannot destroy bacterial spores, a double pasteurization method can destroy the spores as well. It involves a secondary heating process. Therefore, it can extend the shelf life of the food.
What is the Difference Between Boiling and Pasteurization?
Boiling is an industrial process that uses high temperatures to destroy all the enzyme activity and almost all the microorganisms in food. Pasteurization is an industrial process that is useful in preserving packaged and non-packaged foods. The key difference between boiling and pasteurization is that boiling can destroy almost all the microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at high temperatures, whereas pasteurization can destroy microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at a low temperature.
The following table summarizes the difference between boiling and pasteurization for side by side comparison.
Summary – Boiling vs Pasteurization
Boiling and pasteurization are important thermal processes that are useful mainly in the food industry. The key difference between boiling and pasteurization is that boiling can destroy almost all the microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at high temperatures, whereas pasteurization can destroy microorganisms and deactivate enzymes in food at a low temperature.
Reference:
1. “Preserving Food: Methods of Food Preservation: Cooked and Uncooked Foods.” First.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Jam-fruit-jars-fruit-jams” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “60s Pama pasteurizer” By Gebo Cermex – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia