Vol.4, No.9B, 1-4 (2013) Agricultural Sciences
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/as.2013.49B001
Copyright © 2013 SciRes. OPEN ACCESS
The use of natural cold in t he processing and storage
of food in the extreme conditions of Yakutia
A. F. Abramov
The State Scientific Institution, The Yakut Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture, The Russian Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, Yakutsk, The Russian Fed eration; yniicx@mail.ru
Received May 2013
ABSTRAC T
The basic directions of development on the use
of natural cold in the processing and storage of
food in the extreme conditions of Yakutia are
discussed in this paper.
Keywords: Natural Cold; Techno log ies ; Patents;
Regulations
1. INTRODUCTION
Justification fo r the use of nat u r al cold in the processing
and storage of foods is discussed. In the Far North, in-
cluding Yakutia, in the past centuries, the local popula-
tion traditionall y widel y used freezing and sto red food by
natural cold. At present, despite the high efficiency of
natural cold in the processing and storage of food in the
Far North, it is rarely used in industrial production tech-
nology, processing and storage of products. The main
reason has been the widespread use of artificial cold.
However, the high cost of electricity, equipment and re-
frigerants requires more in-depth and extensive research
on the d evelo pment of adva nce d techno logie s and e quip-
ment for the preservation and storage of natural cold
food in the extreme conditions of the North.
Expected efficiency:
- Energy savings of 40% - 50% in the period of pro-
cessing and storage as compared to using artificial cold;
- Environmental friendliness of natural cold;
- Minimum weight loss of products;
- The p roducts a re store d in bulk for m wit hout the use
of preservatives;
- High degree of conservation of taste and nutritional
products.
2. THE M AIN SOURCES OF NATURAL
COLD
In Yakutia the main sources of natural cold are: winter
cold, cold of permafrost soils and the cold accumulated
in the glaciers.
Low temperatures in winter in Yakutia are the major
source of cold, sometimes in winter the temperatures
reach to −55˚C - −60˚C. The total duration of the cold
period with temperatures below −25˚C in the Arctic and
North-Eastern areas is 150 - 160 days (from November
to March), in Central Yakutia—150 - 160 days (from
November to March), in Western Yakutia—90 days
(from December to February), in South Yakutia—60
days (from January to February). Production of frozen
food s usi ng nat ur a l co ld c a n b egin whe n t he ni g ht t e mp er-
ature reaches below −25˚C - −30˚C, (Table 1).
Perma f rost soils. T he entire ter ritory of the republic is
occupied by permafrost, which accumulated a huge stock
of cold. Power of permafrost in the country ranges from
15 m to 500 m or more (Figure 1).
3. BIOCHEMICAL BASIS OF USING THE
NATURAL COLD ON THE QUALITY OF
FROZEN PRODUCT
Many scientists and researchers on the meat industry
and bio che mis ts ha ve p ro ved t he b ene fit-phase r apid freez-
ing of meat and fish products at the te mperat ure o f −30˚C
- −40˚C witho ut pr e-coo li ng o f meat a nd fis h. T he y found
that freezing at this temperature the cell structure in these
products is not damaged due to the formation of small
ice crystals, not only in the intercellular spaces, but also
in the c ells the mselves. As a res ult, durin g defrostatio n of
a frozen meat and fish products the losses are minimal,
and they retain the primary structure, lose less juice, kept
pac kaging and nutritional quality of fresh products.
In the F ar Nort h, including Yakutia , autumn and winte r
slaughter of deer, cattle, horses, when the cold tempera-
ture reaches −25˚C - −30˚C, winter ice fishing has been
practiced since ancient times, and in the winter months.
At this temperature, there is a rapid freezing of meat and
fish, equivalent to a single-phase frozen meat and fish
products, where food quality is fully preserved.
According to the results of our studies, the production
of frozen potatoes, vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy and fish
products is practically conserved quality of fresh prod-