**1. Introduction**

Food processing, preservation, and packaging are important to increase food availability for human consumption. Food processing includes mechanical, chemical, and thermal methods to process foods to increase their palatability and shelf life. Food processing transforms raw ingredients into food or other intermediate products, and preservation is the process of handling and treating food to control its spoilage by stopping the attack and growth of foodborne diseases causing microbes, avoiding oxidation of fats (rancidity), and maintaining the nutritional value, texture, and flavor of the food [1]. According to Saini et al. [2], the chemicals, microbes, and enzymes present in the food itself result in food spoilage if not processed and preserved. Besides, food and its products must be transported from one place to another. During transit, there are chances to deteriorate the food, loss or decrease in morphological properties, and reduction in the nutritional value of the food. Therefore, it is important to make efforts for food processing and preservation for longer shelf life, stability in quality, maintaining morphological properties, and no change in taste [1].

Various traditional and modern methods were developed, considering the importance of food preservation to reduce post-harvest losses and the chances of food poisoning and other diseases. Commonly used food preservation methods are refrigeration, canning, irradiation, drying, salting, smoking, and fermentation, which help improve the shelf stability of foods such as meats, fruits, vegetables, and fish-based products. Many traditional methods, such as preserving fruits by changing them into jams, had lower energy input and carbon footprint than modern techniques [3]. Some traditional methods involve boiling fruits to kill microbes and decrease the moisture contents, adding enough sugar to prevent the regrowth of microbes, and sealing them in an airtight jar to prevent contamination [3]. Sugaring causes the jam much hypertonic and makes it hard for microbes to survive. Various research areas of food preservation include preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms and preventing chemical reactions, such as retarding the oxidation of fats, thus extending the shelf life of food products. In addition, packaging research focuses on improving the shelf life of convenient, ready-to-eat, tasty, and mild processed food products. Currently novel biodegradable packaging materials are gaining importance in addressing the environmental pollution caused by fossil-based packaging materials. This chapter provides an overview of food processing, preservation, and packaging technologies used to develop new products and improve their shelf life.
