Food Preservation Hurdle Technology
Food Preservation Hurdle Technology
This Demonstration illustrates the principle of so-called "hurdle technology" in food preservation through an ideogram originally proposed by John Troller. The barriers to microbial growth, be they temperature, water activity, pH, antimicrobial chemical agents, and so on, are shown as stacked horizontal bars, and their combined effect as a vertical wall. When the wall's height equals the sum of the barriers' heights, their effect is merely additive. If the wall is taller than the sum, the barriers' effects are synergistic and if shorter, antagonistic.