Mangoes Round the Year

This chapter is about food preservation. We need to preserve food items so that they last longer. When germs grow on food, they spoil the food. Spoilt food is bad for our health. Eating spoilt food can make you sick. Sometimes, a person may fall seriously ill after consuming spoilt food.

Germs need warm temperature, moisture and air to grow. That is why food easily gets spoilt during summer and rainy season.

Methods of Food Preservation

Some common methods of food preservation are as follows:

Sun Drying: Food grains are dried in the sun. This helps in removing moisture from grains.

Salt and Sugar: Adding salt and sugar helps in removing moisture from food. That is why, salt or sugar are added to pickled and jams.

Oil: Adding oil to a food item helps in preventing oxygen getting available to the germs. Lots of oil is added to pickles for this purpose.

Refrigeration: When we keep food in refrigerator, it lowers the temperature. Germs cannot grow under low temperature. That is why fruits, vegetables and milk are kept in refrigerator.

Discuss

Question 1: How did Aman know that the potato sabzi had got spoilt?

Answer: Sabzi may have smelled bad. When a food smells awful, it is a sign of spoilt food.

Question 2: Have you ever seen some food that has got spoilt? How did you know that it was spoiled?

Answer: Yes, I have seen many spoilt food. Most of the spoilt food smells bad. Sometimes, the spoilt food tastes bad even if the smell is alright.

Question 3: Preeti told Nitu not to eat potato sabzi. What would have happened if she had eaten it?

Answer: Eating spoilt food can make us sick. Sometimes, the sickness can be life threatening.

Write

Question 1: Look in your kitchen and write down names of food items that

(a) Can get spoilt in 2-3 days

Answer: Vegetables and fruits

(b) Can be kept for a week

Answer: Kaju Barfi, Cake

Answer: Namkeen, chips

Question 2: Will your list be the same in all seasons? What would change?

Answer: The list can change in different seasons. Fruits and vegetables generally last longer in winter than in summer.

Question 3: When food gets spoilt in your house, what do you do with it?

Answer: We throw away the spoilt food.

Biji returned the bread

Question 1: Look at the picture of the bread packet here and guess why Biji returned it?

Answer: Greenish grey spots are visible on bread slices.

Question 2: How did she find that the bread had got spoilt?

Answer: These greenish grey spots are because of fungus. Fungus spoilt the bread.