How to Preserve Your Foodstuff from Spoilage

Food is expensive and wastage should be avoided as much as possible because there are a lot of people out there who cannot afford a day’s meal. Foodstuff in the market has doubled in price compared to what was obtainable before. But what do you do when the foodstuff you have keeps getting spoiled or infected by pests that render them unfit for consumption? Then you have to devise ways to protect and preserve your foodstuff from these agents of destruction. Here is how to curb their spoilage:

• Yam: If you are a lover of yam, then you should know that you must not store yam tubers on the bare floor. Keeping yam on the bare floor for a long period of time causes them to start having mildews and rot spots. Instead, store them in an airy place that is above the floor, if possible use a wooden structure. This will preserve the yam for a long while and instead of getting rotten, it will continue to dry out its moisture content.

• Beans: Weevils are the most annoying thing about stored beans. Although wholesalers and retailers spray bags of beans with certain chemicals to keep weevils at bay, once the effects of those chemicals wear off, bean weevils start developing in your small store. One of the proven methods of getting rid of bean weevils is to add dried and spicy pepper to the beans. Ensure that you store the beans in a cool and dry place, then add dried peppers to them to make the environment uncomfortable for weevils to develop.

• Rice: To preserve your rice, ensure that the lid of the container is always tightly covered in order to avoid mice getting into it and contaminating it with their waste products. Also, to protect rice from weevils, make sure that the storage environment is neat and cold so as to hamper the development of the weevils. However, if you already have rice weevils, the next best thing will be to sun-dry your rice batch by batch to allow the insects to die or crawl away.

• Oils: Palm oils generally go rancid when they are kept for too long in one position. Rancidity occurs when the oil changes taste and odour. A good way to preserve your oils is by keeping them off the bare floor in airtight containers.

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jelifat

Opoola Jelifat is a young and passionate writer. She holds a B.Sc degree in Microbiology and enjoys reading, cooking and writing on real life issues. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree at the University of Ibadan. Contact her on opoolajelifat@gmail.com, and via Twitter and facebook by clicking the icons below.

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