How do salting foods preserve bacteria?
in Food & Drink
Using information about osmosis and bacteria, describe how heavily salting foods (curing meat or canned foods) preserves them.
Comments
Salt is hygroscopic, meaning that it tends to draw water out from anything it comes into contact with. So, if bacteria comes into contact with the salt in cured foods, the salt dries out the bacteria cells and kills it. And, since the bacteria are made of cells and cells are surrounded by a membrane, the process by which the salt draws the water out through the membrane is called osmosis, where a higher concentration of water tends to flow toward a lower concentration of water.
Salting foods is one of thebest ways to preserve them, as the salt dries the water out. The food shrivels up and the food item lasts ages. Fish, meat and vegetables are preserved this way. The water is drained out by the salt. Water is the thing that makes a food rot. Without water in it- it is dry matter and no rotting occurs. THe bacteria LOVE moiture. It's very hard to survive in a desert, that is the same principal behind salting.
it doesn't
salting foods KILLS bacteria, it doesn't preserve it