Re: Freezing temperatures damage seed and make them less marketable

[Guest guest]

Actually it's not so much the freezing that is at issue - it's more

often the thawing that hurts the seed/food, etc. As the frozen food

thaws the oil that has frozen now combines with the water condensation

that has frozen it. Once food is defrosted it should be consumed

because it has now lost some vitality in the process of freezing and

thawing. Not an ideal solution, but I think a viable one is to freeze

packets of seeds that are only as big as needed for sprouting one

batch. Although it's not ideal because you're still freezing and

thawing, if you're convinced you need to freeze your seed this is the

way to avoid damage to a lot of seed placed together in the freezer.

What I ask my customers when they ask about freezing roasted coffee is

why buy more than you need to use (without freezing)? Buy what you need

to use over the course of 2-3 weeks and avoid the issues related to

freezing food.

As far as the issue of " shattering " is concerned I don't know the

answer but the obvious answer (to me at least) is don't freeze your

seed/food if you can avoid it.

The other consideration is that if we know or think seed can be saved

at room temperature for 2-5 years why are we thinking about freezing it

which is sure to affect the seed adversely?

Karl Seidel

On Nov 27, 2005, at 12:59 AM, wrote:

> Freezing temperatures damage seed and make them less marketable.

> http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/sesame.html

>

> well friends, I am finding conflicting info on this, so I still am

> not sure what to do here. some info (mostly from cooking sites on food

> storage) say to freeze the seeds because of the oil content and going

> rancid. But now I find this. The above article also says the seed will

> " shatter " if frozen. I have extra seed that I want to take care of.

> So still wondering what is the right thing to do.