Opportunities for Ultra-High-Pressure Homogenisation (UHPH) for the Food Industry

Abstract

Ultra-high-pressure homogenisation (UHPH) is a novel technology with applications in the processing of fluids. While the technology is based on conventional balland-seat homogenisers, developments in valve design and materials have enabled pressures of 400 MPa to be achieved. The benefits of UHPH include shelf-life extension through inactivation of microorganisms and improvements in functionality due to increased emulsion capacity and stability, with minimal effects on nutritional value and sensory characteristics. It is also envisaged that the thermal effects of UHPH are minimal as the treated fluid reaches its maximum temperature for less than a second. European research projects have recently supported the studies of UHPH for food applications, including dairy products, vegetable milk, and fruit juices. These projects have been focused on the evaluation of the effects of UHPH on a large number of food components, with a particular emphasis on control of enzymes and physical functionality. UHPH is a sustainable process that has potential application in a large number of liquid foods, including milk (cow, goat, soy, rice, and almond), fruit juices (orange, apple, and grape), and manufactured food products (yoghurt, soghurt, and cheese) as a novel process for the production of a wide variety of safe and nutritious foods.

Effect of high‐pressure homogenization on the flow properties of citrus peel fibers

“…The samples treated with 23,000 psi had smaller mean and median particle size compared with the samples treated under 13,000 psi; higher percentage of oil to fiber was associated with smaller mean and median particle size; however, the concentration of fiber in the composites had little effect on the particle size. It is understandable that a higher pressure renders greater mechanical disintegration of the materials (Zamora & Guamis, ; Zhu et al, ). The similar results were reported elsewhere (Hu, Nie, & Xie, ; Leite, Augusto, & Cristianini, ; Song et al, ).…”

“…High‐pressure homogenization technique is also called microfluidization. During which, the air pump can accelerate the high velocity micro‐stream and hit the valve piston in the ceramic auxiliary processing module, resulting in enhanced particle size reduction and cellular structure disruption (Zamora & Guamis, ). Due to this mechanical function, high‐pressure homogenization has been used widely in generating emulsions like oil‐protein isolate emulsions (Kuhn & Cunha, ), dairy emulsions (Marco‐Moles, Hernando, Llorca, & Perez‐Munuera, ), and water‐in‐oil nanoemulsions (Lee, Hancocks, Noble, & Norton, ).…”

Emerging Technologies to Increase Extraction, Control Microorganisms, and Reduce SO2

“…The emerging technologies that showed the greatest potential for increasing the extraction of skin compounds and controlling indigenous microorganisms are as follows: high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) [4][5][6], ultra high pressure homogenization (UHPH) [7][8][9], pulsed electric fields (PEFs) [10][11][12][13][14][15], electron-beam irradiation (eBeam) [16][17][18], ultrasound (US) [15,[19][20], and pulsed light (PL) [21][22][23]. Most of these technologies are either approved or under evaluation as new enological practices in the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) regulations [24][25][26].…”

“…High pressure homogenization (HPH) is a continuous treatment in which a food liquid is pumped at high pressure and later depressurized when the fluid passes through a special valve. It is normally called HPH when pressurization occurs at 100-200 MPa (Figure 5A) and ultra high pressure homogenization (UHPH) when the pressure range is higher than 200 MPa (Figure 5B) [7,9].…”

“…UHPH is highly efficient in controlling microorganisms. The antimicrobial effect is produced by the strong impact forces together with the shear stresses and the complementary effect of local cavitation and friction [7][8][9]. This process produces intense heating in the in-valve time but during a really short period of time of 0.02 and 0.2 s for the global residence time.…”