假設這樣一種情況：如果明天起，人類突然全部消失不見，那麼等到兩千年後，當那時的考古學傢來到你我的廚房考察，尋找當年保存的食物時，還有哪些能吃？人類有各種各樣新奇的食物保存方法。比如，將食物冷凍幹燥、用食鹽醃漬、放入真空包裝密封起來。本期 “隨身英語” 節目介紹哪些食物保存法最有效，以及有什麼方法可以讓食物保存2000年後依然可以食用。
詞匯：food preservation 食品保存
Imagine for a moment you’ve travelled 2,000 years into the future. Which human foods do you think would stand the test of time, and would any of it still be edible? To find out, we first need to understand what makes food go off.
Food preservation‘s main opponent is microbial growth. An expert in food chemistry, Michael Sulu, says most foods spoil for that reason. When things like bacteria, mould and yeast grow on your food, it can become pathogenic, and food causing disease is best avoided! So, how can we limit their growth?
Microbes love oxygen and water, so the key is to starve them of it. We can do this by drying, salting, chilling, or storing the food in airtight containers. According to Sulu, drying is the most effective because without water, microbes can’t multiply. Freezing works in the short-term, but explorers who have found ancient frozen animals initially thought the meat looked edible, but once defrosted, it immediately became putrid, which doesn’t sound at all palatable!
But how can we make our favourite foods longer-lasting if we don’t want to dry, salt or freeze them? That’s where additives and preservatives come in. These chemicals help to improve the shelf life of our supermarket items, but it means the food becomes ultra-processed. High consumption of ultra-processed food is linked to problems like depression and obesity, according to a review of the research by Pagliai and colleagues in the British Journal of Nutrition.
So, what’s going to be safe for us to eat in our hypothetical time travel scenario? “I would start off with anything that is vacuum-packed or dried as well,” says Sulu. If you can’t find any of that, you could go to the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, where there are almost one million samples of seeds from all over the world. They’re in vaults designed to last forever, buried beneath the Arctic permafrost, so either eat the seeds, or start repopulating the plant world!
詞匯表
stand the test of time 經得起時間的考驗
edible 可食用的
go off （食物）變壞
food preservation 食品保存
microbial growth 微生物生長
spoil （食物）變壞，變質
bacteria 細菌
mould 黴菌
yeast 酵母菌
pathogenic 可致病的
salting 用食鹽醃制
airtight 密封的
defrost 解凍
putrid 腐爛的，腐壞的
palatable 美味的，可口的
long-lasting 持久的，長期的
additives 添加劑
preservatives 防腐劑
shelf life 保質期
ultra-processed 超加工的
vacuum-packed 真空包裝的
permafrost 永凍層，永久凍土
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What is the main reason our food spoils?
2. Why is drying considered the most effective food preservation method?
3. True or False? Frozen meat is edible even 2,000 years in the future.
4. What is the downside of adding additives and preservatives to food?
5. How are the seeds in the Global Seed Vault stored?
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. Salt is often used in _______ methods to inhibit microbial growth.
vacuum-packed food preservation pathogenic edible
2. If milk starts to smell sour, it’s a sign that it _______.
has gone off stands the test of time goes off stood the test of time
3. Leaving food in the sun can cause it to _______ quickly.
ultra-process spoil defrosting preserve
4. The chef experimented with different spices to make the dish more _______.
airtight pathogenic long-lasting palatable
5. That bread is quite old. Look, it’s already got _______ on it!
frost additives salt mould
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What is the main reason our food spoils?
The main reason our food spoils is microbial (bacteria, mould, yeast) growth.
2. Why is drying considered the most effective food preservation method?
Drying is considered the most effective food preservation method because microbes can’t multiply without water.
3. True or False? Frozen meat is edible even 2,000 years in the future.
False. Explorers found meat they thought was edible, but once it was defrosted, it became putrid.
4. What is the downside of adding additives and preservatives to food?
Adding additives and preservatives to food makes them more likely to be ultra-processed, the consumption of which is linked to depression and obesity.
5. How are the seeds in the Global Seed Vault stored?
The seeds in the Global Seed Vault are stored in vaults designed to last forever, buried beneath the Arctic permafrost.
2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。
1. Salt is often used in food preservation methods to inhibit microbial growth.
2. If milk starts to smell sour, it’s a sign that it has gone off.
3. Leaving food in the sun can cause it to spoil quickly.
4. The chef experimented with different spices to make the dish more palatable.
5. That bread is quite old. Look, it’s already got mould on it!
免費試聽
填表領取25分鐘真人外師課＋英文程度分析
