Map Technology - Food preservation technique
Map Technology is one of the safest food preservation techniques and offers enormous advantages in terms of extending shelf life.
This food preservation technique consists in replacing the air present inside a food package with a pre-established gas mixture; this way you avoid using chemical additives, salt or preservatives.
The gases used in the protective atmosphere are oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and Argon.
Carbon Dioxide (Co2)
Carbon dioxide is one of the most important gases, due to its bacteriostatic and fungal static properties.
It dissolves easily in the water and fats of the packaged food, forming carbonic acid which creates a low pH environment.
Carbon dioxide inhibits the proliferation of fungi, molds and gram-negative bacteria, but be careful, too high a concentration can cause the discolouration of the food, in particular red meat, with the formation of carbonic acid, which gives it an acidic taste and pungent. In this way it slows down the maceration of the vegetables and maintains their green color; it is not suitable for use with dairy products.
Oxygen (O2)
In some foods such as meat, oxygen is added to counteract the development of anaerobic bacteria and to allow the food product to respire, thus maintaining the desired appearance of the food, such as meat.
In gas mixtures used for MAP, the oxygen level is often in higher concentrations than the amount normally found in air.
Nitrogen (N2)
Nitrogen is an inert, odorless and tasteless gas. It is mainly used to replace oxygen in the package and thereby prevents oxidation.
Due to its poor solubility in water, nitrogen also helps prevent package collapse, keeping the internal volume unchanged and, therefore, is also used as a fill gas.
Argon
The use of argon has recently been reevaluated.
From a practical point of view, argon is a substitute for nitrogen, but, unlike it, it is 1.43 times denser and therefore is positioned at the bottom of the package, thus managing to fill the internal space more efficiently compared to nitrogen.
Argon is an inert gas that can dissolve better than nitrogen in water and lipids, penetrating further into the structure of the food and thus being more effective in protecting against oxidation.
The effectiveness of MAP depends greatly on the accuracy with which the gases are introduced into the package; the use of Cryotek Eng Mixers better guarantees the possibility that the MAP preserves effectively for the entire conservation period
Author's notes: Furthermore, what is written is for informational purposes only, it is not intended to replace scientific research nor a diet.