SYSTEM THEREOF

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to method and system for preservation of low acid food items with a ‘pressure sterilization’ technique. More particularly, the present invention discloses a method for turmeric assisted pressure sterilization (TAPS) of food items in order to achieve the shelf-life of 500 days in the refrigeration (39-41°F) and 30 days at ambient temperature (70 °F) for low-acid food items (pH>4.6) without using any preservatives and keeping food flavor, taste and nutrients intact. The food containers used for TAPS does not need the hermetic (air-tight) seal and are subjected to maximum temperature of 25 °C instead of 121°C for the retort pouches, glass jars and metal cans etc used for thermally sterilized food products.

BACKGROUND ART

The humans always aim to consume food with its original taste, flavor and the maximum nutrients. Because we can’t produce all type of foods we eat or can’t eat everything we produce during a season or a period, we need to preserve the food and transport it all across the globe. Foods get spoiled by 2 types of pathogens - Bacteria namely Listeria, Salmonella, B.Cereus etc and Bacterial Spores namely Clostridium Botulinum (CB), the most dangerous food toxin. As CB spores in foods is fatal if consumed, the main challenge for the packaged food industry is to stop its growth. The easiest way to stop the growth of all pathogens is to keep food frozen at 0 °F. Some foods may lose taste and flavor but the freezing gives the food a shelf-life of 1 to 2 years. Refrigeration at 40 °F only slows the growth of pathogens, hence the foods in refrigeration get shelf-life of 15 days to a month. But the foods in refrigeration maintains its original flavor, taste and nutrients, hence it is called ‘Fresh’ section or Deli in the grocery stores. Only problem is that the frozen storage (0 °F) costs 2.5 times more than the refrigerated storage (40 °F) and the refrigerated storage costs twice as much as keeping foods at room temperature (70 °F). It is no brainer then that 75% of foods are stored and transported at the room temperature, the cheapest option whereas the share of the frozen food is 15-20% and the refrigerated food is 5-10%. However most of the pathogens grow faster at the room temperature specially CB spores grows superfast in anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions at room temperature. Luckily for us, most of bacterial pathogens get killed if food is heated to 180 °F (82 °C) whereas CB spores gets eliminated by heating to 250 °F

(121 °C) for 3 minutes called ‘Botulinum Cook. As the water boils at 100 °C, we need some sort of ‘pressure cooking’ to take food to 121 °C. Pasteurization of foods entails the elimination of bacterial pathogens only, not bacterial spores. Hence the pasteurized foods are to be kept in the refrigeration and thermal pasteurization may extend the shelf-life of foods to 1 to 2 months. Milk is the best example of thermal pasteurization where it is subjected to 162 °F for 15 seconds to minimize the loss of taste, flavor and nutrients. Thermal sterilization entails the elimination of CB spores along with other pathogens which gives the foods shelf-life of 1 to 2 years at the room temperature. The downside of heating foods to 121 °C is to lose its original taste, flavor and lot of nutrients. Only alternative to thermal sterilization till now is to make foods acidic by keeping pH <4.6 at which CB spores does not grow and the acidic foods may have the shelf-life of 1 to 2 years. But the preservatives and the food additives used to make foods acidic distort the original flavor and taste. Also our blood’s pH is around 7, hence the consumption of acidic foods are not good for our health. So it is always a trade-off among the longer shelf-life, cost of preservation and the original taste and flavor. The high pressure processing for the food started way back in 90s in Japan. It has two advantages - it did not use any kind of heating and it did not need any food preservatives or additives. Only drawback was the high pressure alone could not kill the bacterial spores (Reference 1, CRFSFS article - Response of Spores to High-Pressure Processing), hence the machine used to apply the high pressure was called High Pressure Pasteurization machine. High Pressure Pasteurization (HPPa) machine applies 85000 psi (6000 atmospheric pressure) of pressure for 3 minutes by the cold water to the foods which eliminates almost all bacterial pathogens as well as results in some change in the molecular structure of the foods. Hence the HPPa treated foods like Salsa, Hummus, Fruit Juices have the shelf-life of 2 to 3 months in the refrigeration. It was huge jump from 15 days to 1 month for the cold fresh foods in the ‘Fresh’ section. There was no loss of taste, flavor or nutrients; in fact High Pressure Processing (HPPr) enhances the bioavailability of foods. The bioavailability is a measure of absorption of nutrients to our body. But the biggest advantage of HPPr came in the form of PATS (Pressure Assisted Thermal Sterilization). Retort packaging uses thermal sterilization which could take the ‘pressure cooking’ up to one hour depending on the volume of food whereas PATS can reduce this time to 5-10 minutes for the same volume of food. TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure sterilization) converts HPPr into the high pressure sterilization (HPS). We used TAPS for different curry flavors namely Tikka Masala Curry (dairy), Mother’s Curry (non-dairy), Coconut curry (non-dairy) etc, 2 grains namely Turmeric Rice, Turmeric Pasta, 2 ‘ready to eat’ Meals namely Turmeric Rice with Chickpeas Curry, Paneer Tikka Masala etc , some proteins namely Paneer (Indian cheese), Nutrigget (using Nutrela soy chunks) and some vegetables namely Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower etc. We started with HPPr of our Curry sauces on 11 ^th May 2016, launched Turmeric Rice and Meals in the summer of 2018, culminating with the launch of Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower, Turmeric Pasta in May 2020. As we cook Indian food at home or at any Indian restaurant, all food items have some common processes - boiling various ingredients at 100 °C (212 °F), no pressure cooking, Turmeric is omnipresent in all foods considered the soul of Indian cuisine. None of our food items ever go to 121 °C, the botulinum cook. Still after HPPr, they have the shelf-life of 500 days in the refrigeration and 30 days at room temperature. We found no presence of Clostridium even after 30 days at room temperature and organoleptic testing showed no abnormalities in odor, texture etc.

PATS (Pressure Assisted Thermal Sterilization) is the best option as of now to preserve the original flavor and taste of food as the high pressure applied on food reduces the time considerably to reach at 250 °F (121 °C)

, the magic temperature for the thermal sterilization, the botulinum cook. The process involves heating a food to a pre-pressurized temperature, subjecting the food to ultra-high pressure, which instantaneously raises the temperature of the food, and then releasing the pressure so that the temperature returns to the original pre-pressurized temperature. The method leverages the adiabatic temperature rise which occurs when the food is hydrostatically pressurized, coupled with the lethality of the pressure, to achieve appropriate sterilization conditions. The disclosure also includes foods which have been sterilized using both ultra-high pressures and high temperatures (Reference 2 - Wilson’s patent) .

In the prior art the Wilson’s sterilization process involves the heating of product to 75 °C - 105 °C prior to applying the ultra-high pressure (Claim 1 a) . So when the pressure is applied to anything, due to compression the temperature goes up, called adiabatic temperature rise. The adiabatic temperature rise goes up to 100 °C - 160 °C as per claims 5 & 6 of Wilson.

Let me compare straightaway these two data points in TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization) process. The pre-pressurized temperature is 5 C° and adiabatic temperature rise is maximum 25 °C. Now compare Wilson’s process with TAPS which has 3 parts. The first part is the cooking process with the same results like Wilson’s wherein traditionally food namely the Curry sauces, Turmeric Rice, Vegetables, all RTE and cooled them in order to get ready for packaging. Stews, Sauces and Soups in Wilson’s claim would come close to our Curry sauces. The second part is packaging the food in hermetically sealed containers. We package our food in HPP tolerant PET containers or the meal trays or the plastic pouches though they are not hermetically sealed. They have very low OTR (oxygen transmission rate). Another difference is that one can’t apply heat to Curry sauces PET containers which would melt at 74 °C (165 °F), hence they are not microwavable. Third part of TAPS is totally different. We don’t apply pre-pressurized temperature to our food, so water at 5 °C (40 °F) applies the high pressure to our foods. Hence the adiabatic temperature rise during the TAPS process reaches to 20 °C- 24 °C (maximum 75 °F), not 160 °C to capture the Botulinum Cook for the sterilization of foods in Wilson’s process. The sterilization of foods in the TAPS takes place due to the presence of Turmeric.

At no point during the TAPS, our food is subjected to 121 °C even for a second; hence TAPS is a ‘pressure sterilization’ technique in true sense. As there are no food additives or additional heating during the TAPS, the original flavor, taste and nutrients of food remains intact for 500 days in the refrigeration (40 °F) and for 30 days at ambient temperature (70 °F). TAPS has huge significance for HPP food industry in general. Despite 30 years of usage, HPPr has remained confined to the US if you think of 200 HPPa machines in the US out of 300 such machines in the world. Also where US has 10-15 HPPr tolling centers, India has none, Japan, Canada have 1-2 tolling centers. The smallest HPP machine costs almost $2 million (Rs 15 Crore) which is way beyond means of a small or medium size food vendor. Only way out is to use the HPP tolling centers which charge 35 cents (Rs 25) per pound of food in the US. The HPP tolling centers in the US is maintained at 40 °F as per FDA/USDA regulation and we as a food vendor are supposed to bring our foods there at 40 °F. So how any food vendor can keep their food at pre-pressurized temperature at 75 °C (167 °F) mentioned in Wilson’s process at HPP tolling center? So PATS (Pressure Assisted Thermal Sterilization) technique though much better than retort packaging, can’t be used by the majority of food vendors. That is another reason that very few food vendors are using the high pressure processing. Turmeric already has huge foot-prints in the US in the form of Curcumin tablets to Turmeric drinks to Turmeric chews to Golden milk, so addition of Turmeric to American or any other food specially Stocks, Stews etc won’t be very big deal. And that would be the game changer as TAPS turns HPP (High Pressure Pasteurization) to HPS (High Pressure Sterilization) which every food vendor wants specially the small or medium ones. HPPa induced shelf-life of 2 to 3 months is good enough for the local market sale, not for country wide sale or export. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:

It is principle object of present invention to overcome the above- mentioned shortcomings in the prior arts namely PATS, MATS (microwave assisted thermal sterilization), all of them being the thermal sterilization techniques. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of sterilizing low acid foods only with high pressure and Turmeric, food not being subjected to any additional heating or the food additives.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of sterilizing low acid foods so that there is no distortion or loss in the taste, flavor and nutrients of food.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a method of sterilizing low acid foods to achieve the shelf-life of 500 days in the refrigeration (40 °F).

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method of sterilizing low acid foods to achieve the shelf-life of 30 days at ambient temperature (70 °F). It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of reducing the global food waste on account of much longer shelf-life in the refrigeration and at ambient temperature.

It is still an additional object of the present invention to enable transportation of majority of foods at 70 °F instead of 40 °F resulting in huge savings in energy costs.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide Indian meals, Turmeric Rice, vegetables like Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower, proteins like Paneer, Nutrigget etc (all ‘ready to eat’, vegetarian) in Fresh or Deli section with 100 days of refrigerated shelf-life without any preservatives.

It is yet further object of the present invention to enable the making of the first ever global Indian restaurant chain as now the TAPS treated Curry sauces could be shipped to US from India or vice versa with original taste and flavor. It is an additional object of the present invention to make people eat more whole grain and vegetables which would result in less meat consumption, hence less greenhouse gases.

It is a further object of the present invention to enable people to eat Turmeric as their daily food intake like we Indians do, not as chews or prescription drugs for some ailments, very relevant for post-Covid 19 world.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization) is a pressure sterilization technique which extends the shelf-life of low acid food items (pH>4.6) to 500 days in the refrigeration (39-41 °F) and 30 days at ambient temperature (70 °F) without using any preservatives or additional heating so as to maintain the original flavor, taste and nutrients of food. Accordingly, TAPS treated food products namely Indian Curry sauces, Turmeric Rice, Meals using Indian Curry sauces, Vegetables like Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower, proteins like Paneer, Nutrigget (Indian Tofu) are the first RTE (ready to eat) food items in the Fresh or Daily section at any grocery stores with 100 days and more shelf-life with original taste, flavor and nutrients.

Such as herein described there is provided a process for preservation of low acid food items with pH >4.6 comprising steps of preparing a base sauce with onion or tomato including turmeric as an ingredient; pouring of the base sauce in shallow pans and cool at walking cooler to 70 degree F in 2 hours and to 40 degree F in next 4 hours, with constant streamlined reduction in temperature every hour till it is 40 degree F or below; cooling the base sauce for the preparation of the Curry sauces by boiling to minimum 212 degree F for stipulated time of 15 minutes; pouring of the said Curry sauces into shallower pans and allowed to cool at walking cooler to 70 degree F in 2 hours and to 40 degree F in next 4 hours; packing the said cooled sauces into PET containers and sealing said containers with sealing machine so as to make them withstand very high pressure during HPP (high pressure pasteurization); and refrigerating the said food products at 39 - 41 degree F; wherein food product is subject to a pressure between 80000 psi and 90000 psi for 3 minutes by cold water at 40 degree F resulting in adiabatic temperature rise up to 75 degree F maximum; and wherein the presence of various spices including cooked Turmeric at enhanced capability triggers the germination of super dormant spores which gets inactivated by the very high pressure during HPP. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous advantages of the present invention of TAPS may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:

Fig 1 is the TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization) Flowchart explaining the TAPS’s 3 parts - Cooking the food and cooling them, packaging them for HPPr and then HPPa at HPP tolling centers; Fig 2 depicts the vacuum packaged meal tray holding Turmeric rice and the Reiser’s Ross machine used for the vacuum packaging;

Fig 3 depicts the sealing machine sealmax CTS-528 with seal film spool and PET round containers with Tikka Masala Curry; Fig 4 depicts various proteins like Paneer, Nutrigget (Indian Tofu) etc and vegetables like Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower etc in the plastic pouches sealed with H-963 bar sealer

Fig 5 depicts the HPPa machine with the Vessels which hold the food containers during HPPr at HPP tolling centers; Fig 6 demonstrates the shelf-life report of post-HPP samples of both Mother’s Curry & Tikka Masala Curry at the room or ambient temperature (70 °F) for 30 days (270th day to 300th day) showing all pathogens < 10, non-presence of Clostridium and Staph and the Organoleptic evaluation showing no abnormalities in visual observation, odor or texture in Tikka Masala Curry to confirm that there are no spores in our food. Mother’s Curry has some deviations on account of imperfect sealing.

Fig 7 demonstrates Mr Jacob Cannon’s email, him being the Lab Manager at Certified Laboratories, confirming the absence of spores in our TAPS treated Curry sauces on account of ambient temperature testing in Fig 6.

Fig 8 demonstrates the shelf-life report of TAPS treated post HPP samples of both Mother’s Curry & Tikka Masala Curry at 500 ^th day in the refrigeration (40 °F) showing all pathogens < 10, non-presence of Clostridium and Staph and the Organoleptic evaluation showing no abnormalities in visual observation, odor or texture to confirm that TAPS eliminates the bacterial spores.

Fig 9 demonstrates the shelf-life report of post-HPP samples of Superdips by our fellow food vendor Radical Plants in Michigan for comparison with our post-HPP curry sauces showing only 16 weeks shelf-life in the refrigeration despite being acidic with pH<4.6, total plate count hovering around 50000 versus < 10 for our post-HPP Curry sauces.

Fig 10 demonstrates the shelf-life report of both pre-HPP and post-HPP samples of both Mother’s Curry & Tikka Masala Curry at 80th day with TPC (total plate count) of 11 million in pre-HPP Mother’s Curry to demonstrate that our cooking is not ‘thermal sterilization.’

Fig 11 demonstrates the Shelf-life report for TAPS treated vacuum packaged Turmeric Rice at ambient temperature (70 °F) at 15 days to 45 days mark by the the Microbest Lab in Michigan to confirm conclusively that TAPS eliminates all spores in our food and Turmeric alone can achieve this result, hence the name Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization.’

Fig 12 demonstrates the shelf-life report of various proteins (Paneer, Chickpeas), vegetables (Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower), meals for 4-5 months in the refrigeration (40 °F) by the Microbest Lab showing the pressure sterilization of Paneer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Herein disclosed present invention of TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization) and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the processes, ingredients, cooking time, pressure applied, hold time, packaging containers, seal films thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that only sterilization techniques used as of now is thermal sterilization which takes a toll on the original taste, flavor and the nutrients. TAPS provides the sterilization with the help of Turmeric and very high pressure used in HPPa at HPP tolling centers, hence no compromise with original taste, flavor and the nutrients. TAPS has 3 parts, see Fig 1 for TAPS flow-chart. The first part is the cooking of various foods namely Curry sauces, Turmeric Rice, various proteins like Paneer and vegetables like Green Jackfruit, Cauliflower etc. In an embodiment of present invention, the second part of TAPS deals with various packaging options to withstand the very high pressure used during the HPPr. For the Curry sauces, we use PET containers (recycle code 1) for its higher impact strength and low OTR (oxygen transmission rate) and MVTR (moisture vapor transmission rate), PET containers are not microwavable. After pouring the cooled Curry sauces, these 16 oz round PET containers are sealed by sealing machine as depicted in Fig 3. For Turmeric rice, we used PP meal trays (SS975W5 by Cryovac, recycle code 5) and they are microwavable. We vacuum packaged these meal trays to hold Turmeric Rice intact during HPPr, see Fig 2. Here the food products use packing containers, meal trays etc with OTR of 50 to 3500, where OTR being the ‘oxygen transmission rate’. For various proteins and vegetables, we use the plastic pouches are sealed by the Impulse bar sealer H-963, see Fig 4. Most important aspect of all packaging options used for TAPS is they don’t need hermetic (air-tight) seal and they don’t have to withstand 121 °C as needed for containers used in the thermal sterilization.

In the present embodiment, the third and final part of TAPS deals with the high pressure processing (HPPr) at HPP tolling center in which the cold water (40-50 °F) applies very high pressure of 85000-90000 psi for 3 minutes to these food containers or pouches sitting in the HPP vessel, see Fig 5. There is no additional heating used during HPP as done for PATS techniques as the adiabatic temperature rise goes up to 75 °F (24 °C) maximum.

In a further embodiment of present invention, 3 things are happening during the TAPS (Turmeric Assisted Pressure Sterilization). First, our Curry sauces use 9 Spices (phytochemicals) and their antimicrobial potential for food preservation is well known, namely 4. Garlic 18. Chili Pepper 22. Cinnamon 26. Coriander 28. Turmeric 29. Cumin 31. Green Cardamom 86. Clove 99. Ginger. These 9 spices cover almost whole lot of bacterium including Clostridium by Turmeric only and the Clostridium spores remain the main target of the packaged food industry (Reference 3 - Table 1, Beneficial Effects of Spices in Food Preservation and Safety). Also Turmeric is the super spice handling 11 pathogens, the highest among all spices. Second, its well known that when Turmeric is boiled at 212 °F in making the Curry, the bioavailability of Curcumin, the main acting agent in Turmeric, goes up by 12 times, so all spices are at its maximum strength. Third, Reference 3 mentions clearly that how spices have been found to be effective in the food preservation. Also to quote - “The synergistic effect of spices together with their constituents or other natural products has been tested.” It has been tested for Thermal processing, Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) and High Pressure Homogenization (HPH) mostly for Juices and the dairy beverages. It was found very effective as the spices combine to bring down the MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration). In TAPS, two things stand out. There is synergistic effect of 9 Spices and basically they are cooked at 212 °F, acting in tandem at their highest strength. As depicted in CRFSFS article (reference 1) under ‘Combination of High-Pressure and Antimicrobial Compounds’ -

“Following HPP alone, samples inoculated with a mixture of clostridial spores could be stored for 42 d at 4 °C without spoilage; the use of HPP in combination with either pediocin or nisin extended the shelf-life of the beef to 84d at 4 °C.”

Only mixing Nisin, a natural food preservative with beef results is in more germination and elimination of clostridial spores to double the shelf-life in the refrigeration, though it does not result in the sterilization of beef sample. Here in TAPS, the food is mixed with 9 Spices at its maximum strength. No surprise that they trigger the germination of superdormant spores which gets killed by the high pressure resulting in the sterilization of our food products. Our Curry sauces used 9 spices and the cooking time of at least an hour. Later we found the same sterilization of Turmeric rice and Paneer etc which demonstrated that Turmeric alone is sufficient for the sterilization in tandem with the HPPr and the cooking time is not relevant.

The embodiment of a sterilization technique needs the confirmation of ‘no spores’ in the food samples. As per suggestion of Mr Jacob Cannon, the lab manager at Certified Laboratories in Chicago, we opted for the room temperature (70 °F) shelf-life report for 30 days of post-HPP samples for both Curry sauces from 270 ^th day to 300 ^th day, please refer to Fig 6. We know that the bacterial spores double themselves almost every 2 hours at the room temperature. Hence the stipulated cooling time for cooked food as per FDA/USDA regulation is 2 hours from 135 °F to 70 °F considered the danger zone and 4 hours from 70 °F to 40 °F. After 30 days at room temperature, our post-HPP samples had most of testing parameters are < 10, two below thousand (for Molds and LAB in Mother’s Curry samples), no presence of ‘Clostridium’ and no abnormalities in Organoleptic testing. And none of our packaging containers are hermetically sealed what you see for the foods in the retort pouches, glass jars or metal cans. So it is pretty much ideal condition for all pathogens to grow. Fig 7 contains the email from Mr Jacob Canon confirming our conclusion of ‘no spores’ - “In the event that spores were injured during HPP, but not fully inactivated, 30 days would be enough time for them to recover and present themselves with the Clostridium, aerobic bacteria, and mold analysis. Staphylococcus is a non-spore forming organism.”

In another embodiment of the confirmation of ‘no spores’ in our TAPS treated food samples, please refer to Fig 8 for 500 ^th day shelf-life report in the refrigeration (40 °F) for both post-HPP samples. It would be relevant to compare these with the shelf-life report of 16 weeks in the refrigeration for Superdips (refer to Fig 9, an acidic product by our fellow food vendor), apple to apple comparison in terms of everything besides the cooking involved and off course the ingredients specially the spices. At 500 days, our post-HPP Curry samples have all testing parameters < 10, no Clostridium, no abnormalities in Organoleptic testing. Actually it is better than drinking water which would show TPC of 500- 1000 under the microscope. The reading of < 10 mean nothing visible under the microscope. The refrigeration slows the growth of pathogens, does not stop it like freezing temperature of 0 °F. Hence the spores present themselves within 100 days even in refrigeration as evident from our own pre-HPP Mother’s Curry samples and the Superdips. Please refer to Fig 10 for 80 ^th day shelf-life report of pre-HPP samples of Mother’s Curry in the refrigeration, pre-HPP means the same samples sent to the lab before high pressure processing. The TPC (total plate count) was 11 million. It proved 2 things - Indian cooking is not a thermal sterilization process and the high pressure with the Spices kills the spores.

In further embodiment of the confirmation of ‘no spores’ in our TAPS treated food samples, the shelf-life report of vacuum packaged Turmeric Rice at room temperature for 15 days to 45 days is recorded, please refer to Fig 11. The nemesis of the packaged food industry ‘Clostridium Botulinum’ grows superfast in anaerobic conditions (no oxygen) at room temperature. That’s why the vacuum packaged foods are not advised to kept outside the refrigeration (40 °F) even for 2 hours. Turmeric Rice’s pH was 6.22, not even closer to 4.6 under which CB spores do not grow. After 15 days at room temperature, all testing parameters were < 10, <20 for B.Cereus and Organoleptic testing showed the ‘freshness.’ At 45 days mark in the room temperature ANA TPC (anaerobic plate count) of 7900 does not reflect the presence of any spores. Given that the ‘cooked rice’ itself is among the most spoilage prone food items, this shelf-life report confirmed 2 things - the cooking time of at least 1 hour for Curry sauces is not a factor in the ‘pressure sterilization’ as the cooking time for Turmeric rice was 15 to 20 minutes. Second, the Turmeric’ alone is good enough for triggering germination of superdormant spores during HPPr.

In an embodiment of the confirmation of Turmeric’ playing the main role in ‘pressure sterilization,’ for the shelf-life report of various items like Paneer, Green Jackfruit (young jackfruit, not ripe), Cauliflower etc, in the refrigeration for 4-5 months, please refer to Fig 12. Paneer and these vegetables are boiled with Turmeric and salt for 5-10 minutes, cooled and then packaged in specific pouches and sent for the HPPr. The post-HPP samples of Paneer has pH of 6.15 at almost 6 months mark and it has testing parameters < 10. Green Jackfruit’s pH goes below 4.6 at 5 months’ mark. We buy Paneer mostly from the frozen section of Restaurant Depot, the store chain catering to the restaurants in the US. In the refrigerated section at other stores, it is marked for 2 months’ shelf-life. 6 months shelf-life in the refrigeration is a big advantage and we believe that it would have 30 days or more shelf-life at room temperature due to absence of spores which could be useful for the warehouse storage and transportation. It could reduce the significant wastage for dairy items all across the globe.

Many improvement and other embodiments of the present invention will suggest itself to one skilled in the art to which this invention illustrated in the foregoing description and the associated diagrams. Thus, it is to be realized that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that amendments and other embodiments are looked-for to be included within the scope of the added claims. However, specific terms has been employed herewith which are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purpose of limitations. References:

1. Blake E, Setlow P, Hocking A, Stewart C, Kelly A, Hoover D. 2007. Response of spores to high-pressure processing. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science & Food Safety (CRFSFS) Vol 6 -103-19 2. Wilson M J, Baker R. 2001 United Sates Patent - 6, 207, 215 March 27,

2001. High temperature/ultra high pressure sterilization of foods 3. Gottardi D, Bukvicki D, Prasad S, Tyagi A. Beneficial Effects of Spices in Food Preservation and Safety. REVIEW published: 21 September 2016 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01394 p 1-20