Stockpile Storage of Food

If food is not prepared or consumed immediately after purchase, it can be stored in the basement, pantry or refrigerator. Home storage is similar to industrial processed food storage. If food is exposed to too high temperatures, too much light and oxygen, and too long storage times, the nutrient and vital substance content (macro- and micronutrients) is significantly altered and reduced. Under such conditions, enzyme as well as bacterial activity is very high, favoring vitamin degradation. Bacterial microorganisms such as yeasts, molds and bacteria have optimal conditions to multiply. They prefer acidic and carbohydrate-rich foods and like to develop on fruits. Their optimum temperature is 25 °C. They cause fermentation, excrete toxins and cause rotting processes. Raw and frozen meat, minced meat and eggs are an optimal breeding ground for salmonellae, which cause 70 to 80% of all food poisonings.

Vegetables, fruit, dairy and other fresh products are extremely susceptible to vitamin losses – especially vitamin C – as these are degraded by microbacterial as well as enzymatic processes after just a few days. To keep vitamin losses to a minimum, such foods should not be stored in the refrigerator for more than three to five days. Due to the sensitivity of vitamins, their original content is also not guaranteed in foods such as apples, cabbage and carrots, which can be stored for several months. Vegetable oils, nuts and sprouts in whole grains may be stored only for a limited time and should be protected from oxygen and light, because vitamins E, B2, B6, niacin and pantothenic acid, which are important in foods, can be degraded and unsaturated fatty acids can oxidize quickly. However, if vegetable oils are exposed to daylight, they lose 30 to 60% of their vitamin E after only a few months. If vitamin E deficiency occurs in our body, we are missing a valuable, anti-inflammatory and oxidation-inhibiting vital substance.

Vitamin C losses as a function of storage time and temperature.