Application of Ultrasound in Food Science and Technology: A Perspective

Abstract

Ultrasound is composed of mechanical sound waves that originate from molecular movements that oscillate in a propagation medium. The waves have a very high frequency, equal to approximately 20 kHz, are divided into two categories (i.e., low-intensity and high-intensity waves) and cannot be perceived by the human ear. Nature has created the first ultrasound applications. Bats use ultrasound to navigate in the dark, and many cetaceans use echolocation to detect prey or obstacles using ultrasound produced by their vocal system. Ultrasound is commonly associated with the biomedical field. Today, ultrasound-based methods and equipment are available to detect organs, motion, tumour masses, and pre/post-natal handicaps, and for kidney stone removal, physiotherapy, and aesthetic cures. However, ultrasound has found multiple applications in many other fields as well. In particular, ultrasound has recently been used in the food industry to develop various effective and reliable food processing applications. Therefore, this review summarizes the major applications of ultrasound in the food industry. The most common applications in the food industry include cell destruction and extraction of intracellular material. Depending on its intensity, ultrasound is used for the activation or deactivation of enzymes, mixing and homogenization, emulsification, dispersion, preservation, stabilization, dissolution and crystallization, hydrogenation, tenderization of meat, ripening, ageing and oxidation, and as an adjuvant for solid-liquid extraction for maceration to accelerate and to improve the extraction of active ingredients from different matrices, as well as the degassing and atomization of food preparations.

The Effect of High-Intensity Ultrasound on the Physicochemical and Microbiological Properties of Mexican Panela Cheese

“…Ultrasound technology applied in the food industry is classified into two types: low-intensity (LIU) and high-intensity ultrasound (HIU). LIU does not cause physicochemical, biochemical, or microstructural modifications in the food, since it uses power lower than 1 W cm −2 and frequencies greater than 100 kHz [1]. HIU produces changes in food because it uses power greater than 10 W cm −2 and low frequencies in the range of 20 to 100 kHz [2].…”

Evidence of the Possible Interaction between Ultrasound and Thiol Precursors

“…The violent collapse of bubbles can additionally degrade solutes by shear force. Sonication is already employed in many food applications such as emulsifying, homogenizing, sterilizing, extracting, degassing, crystallizing or inactivating microorganisms and enzymes [14]. In winemaking, US technology has already been studied in different stages of the process, namely: Yeast lysis and accelerated aging of wines [15,16], color evolution [17], vessels sanitation [18], prevention of wine spoilage by microorganisms [19], and the release of compounds located in the skin [20,21], with encouraging results, however research on this topic is still ongoing and needs to be developed.…”

Importance and Applications of Ultrasonic Technology to Improve Food Quality

“…The most common applications of ultrasonic in the industry of food include extraction of intracellular and material cell destruction. Depending on the ultrasonic intensity, the ultrasonic is used for the deactivation or activation of enzymes, homogenization and mixing, dispersion, stabilization, crystallization and dissolution, emulsification, hydrogenation, preservation, ripening, meat tenderization, oxidation, as a solid-liquid extraction adjuvant to accelerate and to improve the extraction, and atomization and degassing of food processing [5]. The objectives of ultrasonic research are to analyze and study the phenomena of undesirable and desirable degradation resulting from the applications of ultrasonic wave treatments in foods.…”