application of alternative food-preservation - Bentham Science

114 Application of Alternative Food-Preservation Technologies to Enhance Food Safety & Stability, 2010, 114-142
Use of High Pressure Processing for Food Preservation
Antonio Bevilacqua, Daniela Campaniello and Milena Sinigaglia*
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Foggia, Italy
Antonio Bevilacqua, Maria Rosaria Corbo and Milena Sinigaglia (Eds)
All rights reserved - © 2010 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
CHAPTER 8
Abstract: High pressure processing has been proposed since the beginning of the 1900, as a suitable mean
for reducing food contamination by pathogens and spoiling microorganisms. It is defined as non-thermal
treatment that uses the pressure (300-700 MPa, in some cases up to 1000 MPa) as the main preservation
method.
Based on the different ways to achieve pressure increase, we can distinguish between High Hydrostatic
Pressure (HHP) and High Pressure Homogenization (HPH); HHP attains pressure rise through a fluid,
whereas in HPH treatments pressure increases as a consequence of forcing product through a small valve
(homogenizing valve).
Both these approaches have been proposed for different kinds of foods (HHP, for chopped onions, apple
sauce and apple sauce/fruit blends as eat-on-to-the-go single serve tubes; HPH, for milk and juices) and
currently used in many industrial applications.
The chapter proposes an exhaustive description of both these methods, including the mode of actions against
the microorganisms, the modifications on foodstuffs, a possible combination with some other hurdles and
some examples of industrial applications.
Finally, in the case of HHP there is a report on its safety and implications on health, based on some
publications of Public Agencies.
Key-Concepts: High Hydrostatic Pressure, Homogenization, Effects of pressure on microorganisms,
Equipments.
HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE: AN INTRODUCTION
There are several definitions of the term high pressure processing; hereby, we will use the most simple, i.e. High
Pressure Processing (HPP) is a non-thermal food processing, that uses the pressure (300-700 MPa, in some cases
up to 1000 MPa) as the main preservation method [1]. Due to the fact that pressure increase is achieved through
a fluid (for example water), this process has been also referred to as High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) as
opposite to the High Pressure of Homogenization (HPH), where the increase of the pressure is obtained forcing
the product through a small valve (homogenizing valve).
Bert Hite was the first to use this method as an alternative approach for food preservation; he pressurized many
kinds of foods and beverages in the late 1890s and at the beginning of the 20 th century [2]. Since these initial
efforts, other researchers tried to use this approach, but only in the 1980s the suitability of HHP as a food
preservation method was realized [2].
The first HHP-treated products (jams and jellies) appeared in 1991 in Japan; in 2001, guacamole (pressuretreated
avocado) entered US marketplace, followed by HHP salsa and in 2004 by chopped onions, apple sauce
and apple sauce/fruit blends as eat-on-to-the-go single serve tubes.
In the EU a consumer research [3] reported a 67% of acceptability from consumers of three different European
countries (France, Germany and United Kingdom), thus opening the way for the marketing of HHP-treated
products.
An interesting description of HHP treatment can be found in the paper of Riva [4]: We should imagine two
elephants (10-12 tons) laid on a penny; the coin is subjected to a pressure of ca. 900 MPa. Now, we should
image that the same pressure has been applied on a egg through water: you don’t break the egg, but you cook it
*Address correspondence to this author Milena Sinigaglia at: Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University
of Foggia, Italy; E-mail: m.sinigaglia@unifg.it