The Application of Thermal and Non-thermal Technologies in Food Processing and Preservation

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 April 2025 | Viewed by 3015

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of General and Physical Chemistry Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: thermal analysis of biological compounds; food; food components (proteins)

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of General and Physical Chemistry Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: thermal analysis of biological compounds; food; food components; mathematical modeling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of heat in industrial food processing is an inevitable step towards food stabilization and preservation. In order to ensure the microbiological safety of food products, traditional heating methods such as pasteurization, sterilization, drying, and evaporation are still commonly used in the food industry. Nowadays, food can also be processed without heat, i.e., via non-thermal processing. The most frequently used non-thermal processing techniques are high-pressure processing, pulsed electric field, ultrasound, pulsed light, ultraviolet light, irradiation, and oscillating magnetic field. The goal of all these techniques is the same: to destroy pathogens. Non-thermal techniques, such as irradiation and high hydrostatic pressure, can destroy these organisms with minimal damage to the food.

This Special Issue "The Application of Thermal and Non-thermal Technologies in Food Processing and Preservation" will be focused on the impacts of thermal and non-thermal food processing on the biological, nutritional, and technological values of food. A special emphasis will be placed on the use of methods for thermal analysis. These monitor and characterize the changes that take place at different stages of food processing, with the aim of improving and/or maintaining both technological and nutritional properties. Additionally, preventing oxidative changes and the loss of biologically high-value compounds during food processing will also be of interest.

Dr. Sanja Ostojic
Dr. Darko Micić
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • food thermal processing
  • food non-thermal processing
  • food stability
  • microbiological safety
  • food preservation
  • nutritional properties
  • thermal analysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3547 KiB  
Article
Osmotic Dehydration Model for Sweet Potato Varieties in Sugar Beet Molasses Using the Peleg Model and Fitting Absorption Data Using the Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer Model
by Lato Pezo, Biljana Lončar, Vladimir Filipović, Olja Šovljanski, Vanja Travičić, Jelena Filipović, Milada Pezo, Aca Jovanović and Milica Aćimović
Foods 2024, 13(11), 1658; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13111658 - 25 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 886
Abstract
This study investigates the applicability of the Peleg model to the osmotic dehydration of various sweet potato variety samples in sugar beet molasses, addressing a notable gap in the existing literature. The osmotic dehydration was performed using an 80% sugar beet molasses solution [...] Read more.
This study investigates the applicability of the Peleg model to the osmotic dehydration of various sweet potato variety samples in sugar beet molasses, addressing a notable gap in the existing literature. The osmotic dehydration was performed using an 80% sugar beet molasses solution at temperatures of 20 °C, 35 °C, and 50 °C for periods of 1, 3, and 5 h. The sample-to-solution ratio was 1:5. The objectives encompassed evaluating the Peleg equation’s suitability for modeling mass transfer during osmotic dehydration and determining equilibrium water and solid contents at various temperatures. With its modified equation, the Peleg model accurately described water loss and solid gain dynamics during osmotic treatment, as evidenced by a high coefficient of determination value (r2) ranging from 0.990 to 1.000. Analysis of Peleg constants revealed temperature and concentration dependencies, aligning with previous observations. The Guggenheim, Anderson, and de Boer (GAB) model was employed to characterize sorption isotherms, yielding coefficients comparable to prior studies. Effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy calculations further elucidated the drying kinetics, with effective moisture diffusivity values ranging from 1.85 × 10−8 to 4.83 × 10−8 m2/s and activation energy between 7.096 and 16.652 kJ/mol. These findings contribute to understanding the complex kinetics of osmotic dehydration and provide insights into the modeling and optimization of dehydration processes for sweet potato samples, with implications for food processing and preservation methodologies. Full article
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15 pages, 3909 KiB  
Article
Age Gelation in Direct Steam Infusion Ultra-High-Temperature Milk: Different Heat Treatments Produce Different Gels
by Peipei Wu, Mengyuan Guo, Pengjie Wang, Yi Wang, Ke Fan, Hui Zhou, Wentao Qian, Hongliang Li, Menghui Wang, Xiaojun Wei, Fazheng Ren and Jie Luo
Foods 2024, 13(8), 1236; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13081236 - 18 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1400
Abstract
To investigate the gelation process of direct ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk, a pilot-scale steam infusion heat treatment was used to process milk samples over a wide temperature of 142–157 °C for 0.116–6 s, followed by storage at 4 °C, 25 °C, and 37 °C. [...] Read more.
To investigate the gelation process of direct ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk, a pilot-scale steam infusion heat treatment was used to process milk samples over a wide temperature of 142–157 °C for 0.116–6 s, followed by storage at 4 °C, 25 °C, and 37 °C. The results of the physicochemical properties of milk showed that the particle sizes and plasmin activities of all milk samples increased during storage at 25 °C, but age gelation only occurred in three treated samples, 147 °C/6 s, 142 °C/6 s, and 142 °C/3 s, which all had lower plasmin activities. Furthermore, the properties of formed gels were further compared and analyzed by the measures of structure and intermolecular interaction. The results showed that the gel formed in the 147 °C/6 s-treated milk with a higher C* value had a denser network structure and higher gel strength, while the 142 °C/6 s-treated milk had the highest porosity. Furthermore, disulfide bonds were the largest contributor to the gel structure, and there were significant differences in disulfide bonds, hydrophobic interaction forces, hydrogen bonds, and electrostatic force among the gels. Our results showed that the occurrence of gel was not related to the thermal load, and the different direct UHT treatments produced different age gels in the milk. Full article
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