Abstract Food preservation involves different food processing steps to maintain food quality at a desired level so that maximum benefits and nutrition values can be achieved. Food preservation methods include growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and distribution of foods. The key objectives of food preservation are to overcome inappropriate planning in agriculture, to produce value-added products, and to provide variation in diet. Food spoilage could be caused by a wide range of chemical and biochemical reactions. To impede chemical and microbial deterioration of foods, conventional and primitive techniques of preserving foods like drying, chilling, freezing, and pasteurization have been fostered. In recent years, the techniques to combat these spoilages are becoming sophisticated and have gradually altered to a highly interdisciplinary science. Highly advanced technologies like irradiation, high-pressure technology, and hurdle technology are used to preserve food items. This review article presents and discusses the mechanisms, application conditions, and advantages and disadvantages of different food preservation techniques. This article also presents different food categories and elucidates different physical, chemical, and microbial factors responsible for food spoilage. Furthermore, the market economy of preserved and processed foods has been analyzed in this article.