Innovative Food Processing Technologies: A Comprehensive Review

Food process engineering, a branch of both food science and chemical engineering, has evolved over the years since its inception and still is a rapidly changing discipline. While traditionally the main objective of food process engineering was preservation and stabilization, the focus today has shifted to enhance health aspects, flavour and taste, nutrition, sustainable production, food security and also to ensure more diversity for the increasing demand of consumers.

The food industry is becoming increasingly competitive and dynamic, and strives to develop high quality, freshly prepared food products. To achieve this objective, food manufacturers are today presented with a growing array of new technologies that have the potential to improve, or replace, conventional processing technologies, to deliver higher quality and better consumer targeted food products, which meet many, if not all, of the demands of the modern consumer. These new, or innovative, technologies are in various stages of development, including some still at the R&D stage, and others that have been commercialised as alternatives to conventional processing technologies.

Food process engineering comprises a series of unit operations traditionally applied in the food industry. One major component of these operations relates to the application of heat, directly or indirectly, to provide foods free from pathogenic microorganisms, but also to enhance or intensify other processes, such as extraction, separation or modification of components.  The last three decades have also witnessed the advent and adaptation of several operations, processes, and techniques aimed at producing high quality foods, with minimum alteration of sensory and nutritive properties. Some of these innovative technologies have significantly reduced the thermal component in food processing, offering alternative nonthermal methods.

Food Processing Technologies: A Comprehensive Review covers the latest advances in innovative and nonthermal processing, such as high pressure, pulsed electric fields, radiofrequency, high intensity pulsed light, ultrasound, irradiation and new hurdle technology. Each section will have an introductory article covering the basic principles and applications of each technology, and in-depth articles covering the currently available equipment (and/or the current state of development), food quality and safety, application to various sectors, food laws and regulations, consumer acceptance, advancements and future scope. It will also contain case studies and examples to illustrate state-of-the-art applications. Each section will serve as an excellent reference to food industry professionals involved in the processing of a wide range of food categories, e.g., meat, seafood, beverage, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetable products, spices, herbs among others.

Comprehensive: Offering readers a ‘one-stop’, comprehensive resource for access to a wealth of information to fully support their research and activities in this area and a critical insight into the future direction of the fieldClearly structured:  Meticulously organized, with case studies, examples and illustrations of state-of-the-art applications for each processing technology, it is the ideal resource for students, researchers and professionals to find relevant information quickly and easily and understand how new and emerging technologies may be commercializedInterdisciplinary:  Chapters written by academics and practitioners from various fields and regions will ensure that the knowledge within is easily understood by and applicable to a large audienceMultimedia Features: Hyperlinked references and further readings, cross-references and widgets will allow readers to easily navigate a wealth of information, as well as the inclusion of various multimedia tools Inclusion in the Reference Module in Food Science will ensure that content remains perpetually up-to-date, allowing readers to access the latest authoritative information immediately

1. High Pressure Processing (High Hydrostatic Pressure Processing) 2. Pulsed Electric (and possibly Pulsed Magnetic) Field Processing 3. Ultrasound and Megasonics Processing 4. Hydrodynamic Pressure Processing (including high pressure homogenization and shockwave processing) 5. Advances in (conventional) food processing technologies 6. Cool Plasma Processing 7. Irradiation with Ionizing Radiation 8. Microwave, Radiofrequency and Ohmic Processing 9. Ultraviolet Light Processing 10. Infrared Processing 11. Super and subcritical fluid processing 12. Innovations in Food Nanotechnology