Food production and consumption patterns differ geographically and according to the season. Preservation is necessary to make food available when it might otherwise not be available fresh. Enzymes alone, with potentiating non‐enzyme substances, or with physical processing, can play an important role in extending the shelflife of foods by preventing the growth of spoilage mikcroorganisms. They can do this by: functioning to deprive the problem organism(s) of a necessary nutrient; producing reaction products harmless to humans or animals that are bacteriostatic or bactericidal to the microorganisms; destroying an outer membrane, cell wall, or cell membrane component, causing a change in permeability or a physical disruption of the cell wall and/or cell membrane resulting in the death of the cell; or by inactivating an essential enzyme by a “killer enzyme.”;