ABSTRACT
Nowadays, most of the foods available in the market are produced using conventional thermal processing. Owing to the high level of heat involved in such processing, it is difcult to keep the desired inherent quality of the products. Unlike in earlier years, consumers no longer demand only a long shelf life in food products, there is also an increasing demand for foods that have undergone fewer changes during processing. Changes in families’ lifestyles and increased personal use of freezers and microwave (MW) ovens have resulted in an increased demand for foods that are convenient to prepare and suitable for frozen or chilled storage and/or have a moderate shelf life at ambient temperatures. These emerging factors are forcing food industries to search for novel food-processing methods that have little impact on the quality of foods while meeting the required health and safety standards. To achieve this objective, food-processing equipment is getting sophisticated, with increased levels of technology employed to minimize preservation costs, shorten production times, and improve product quality. The new food processing and preservation methods can be broadly grouped into novel nonthermal and thermal technologies. Novel nonthermal preservation technologies, including high-pressure, pulsed electric eld, and ultrasound waves treatments, involve applying very mild or no heat treatment during processing. On the other hand, novel thermal food-preservation technologies, such as radio frequency (RF), MW, and ohmic heating (OH), involve subjecting the food products to heat. RF and MW heating are getting popular.
