Conservation in Oil

Is the oil an effective preservative?

Oil is a mildly antiseptic natural preservation agent and particularly useful if used in food preservation. The principle of preservation in oil is to isolate the food (and therefore the substrate) from atmospheric air, limiting:

Contamination of volatile bacteria
The availability of oxygen to aerobic germs.

Obviously, the conservation in raw oil does NOT have any effect on ANAerobic bacteria, ie those that do not need and do not tolerate oxygen to live and reproduce; therefore, for purely hygienic and organoleptic purposes, it is advisable to carry out an adequate heat treatment (before and / or after immersion in oil) in order to limit as much as possible the risk of anaerobic contamination, especially from Clostridium Botulinum (bacterium responsible for food poisoning / poisoning known as Botulism) and from molds.
NB. In addition to the heat treatment of food to be preserved in oil, in some cases it may be necessary to use cooking in vinegar and / or salted water, or drying.