ABSTRACT
Conventional freezing leads to the formation of larger sized ice crystals as a result of the slow rate of freezing, which often causes degradation of the textural quality in the food matrix. Meanwhile, fast and rapid freezing enhances the formation of smaller and numerous ice crystals, which helps to retain the original food quality. Development of rapid assisted freezing technologies has caught the heeds of several food industrialists, and researchers, considerably due to its attributes of ice crystal formed with an improved kinetics of freezing in conjugation with the high-pressure. With a basis on qualitative, quantitative, and economical aspects of frozen food and freezing process, this chapter focuses on: (1) the basic conceptualization, principles, modern, and advanced aspects on high-pressure for assisted freezing (HPAF) process with an emphasis on ice-nucleation, crystallization, and phase transition of water with temperature and pressure as primary gradient; (2) equipments and modeling of HPAF process and thermo-physical characteristics of food components and current industrial standards; (3) the impact of HPAF on food constituents and microstructure; (4) application of this technology for enzyme and microbial inactivation, and preservation in various food industries;(5) packaging requirements, storage, and regulatory standards of HPAF food; (6) drip loss and other quality parameters HPAF food with a comparative notes on conventional and other assisted freezing techniques; and (6) future scope of HPAF with its strengths, limitations, and challenges.
