Jordi Saldo

Applications of high-hydrostatic pressure on milk and dairy products: a review

Abstract Interest in high-pressure (HP) applications on milk and dairy products has recently increased. Pressures between 300 and 600 MPa have shown to be an effective method to inactivate microorganisms including most infectious food-borne pathogens. In addition to microbial destruction, it has been reported that HP improves rennet or acid coagulation of milk without detrimental effects on important quality characteristics, such as taste, flavour, vitamins, and nutrients. These characteristics offer the dairy industry numerous practical applications to produce microbially safe, minimally processed dairy products with improved performances, and to develop novel dairy products of high nutritional and sensory quality, novel texture and increased shelf life.

Influence of ultra-high pressure homogenisation on antioxidant capacity, polyphenol and vitamin content of clear apple juice

Ultra-high pressure homogenisation (UHPH) is a recently developed technology and is still under study to evaluate its effect on different aspects of its application to food products. The aim of this research work was to evaluate the effect of UHPH treatments on quality characteristics of apple juice such as antioxidant capacity, polyphenol composition, vitamin C and provitamin A contents, in comparison with raw (R) and pasteurised (PA) apple juice. Several UHPH treatments that include combinations of pressure (100, 200 and 300MPa) and inlet temperatures (4 and 20°C) were assayed. Apple juice was pasteurised at 90°C for 4min. Antioxidant capacity was analysed using the oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay while total phenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau assay. According to the FRAP and DPPH assays, UHPH processing did not change apple juice antioxidant capacity. However, significant differences were detected between samples analysed by TEAC and ORAC assays. In spite of these differences, high correlation values were found between the four antioxidant capacity assays, and also with total polyphenol content. The analysis and quantification of individual phenols by HPLC/DAD analytical technique reflects that UHPH-treatment prevented degradation of these compounds. Vitamin C concentrations did not change in UHPH treated samples, retaining the same value as in raw juice. However, significant losses were observed for provitamin A content, but lower than in PA samples. UHPH-treatments at 300MPa can be an alternative to thermal treatment in order to preserve apple juice quality.

Application of high pressure treatment for cheese production

Abstract High hydrostatic-pressure treatment offers the food industry a new technology for food preservation. Interest in high pressure application on milk has recently increased. Pressures between 300 and 600 MPa can inactivate microorganisms including most infectious food-borne pathogens. In addition to microbial destruction, it has been reported that high pressure improves rennet or acid coagulation of milk and increases cheese yield. A lot of work has been published on microorganism inactivation, denaturation of whey proteins, changes in the mineral distribution and coagulating properties on model or real milk systems. However, practical applications of high pressure treatment in the dairy industry have received little attention. This paper examines recent work in this area and summarizes parts of our ongoing work toward the development of high pressure applications for the cheese industry.

Use of ultra-high-pressure homogenization to preserve apple juice without heat damage

Ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH) is a technology for continuous treatment of fluid food products and can be applied to avoid thermal treatment of fruit juices. Treatment of fresh apple juice at homogenization pressures from 100 to 300 MPa and inlet temperatures of 4 °C or 20 °C caused important decreases in microbial counts when treatment pressure reached at least 200 MPa. After the treatment, counts were<1 log cfu/ml when homogenization pressure reached at least 200 MPa, and remained stable for more than 2 months at 4 °C. Hydroxymethylfurfural for thermal-treated juice reached values 100-fold higher than for its UHPH-treated or raw counterparts. Browning index was higher in non-thermal-treated juice, and it had an inverse correlation with the severity of UHPH treatment. Part of this browning occurred during Pilot Plant processing, but it kept on browning during preservation in juices in which PPO was not fully inactivated. UHPH treatment of apple juice may be an alternative to conventional thermal processing.

Changes in water binding in high-pressure treated cheese, measured by TGA (thermogravimetrical analysis)

Abstract Garrotxa cheese was pressurised at 400 MPa for 5 min to shorten ripening accordingly to previous studies. Moisture content was followed along ripening. Moisture in cheese was divided into free and bound water according to the weight loss rate during drying in a TGA oven. High-pressure treated cheese to shorten ripening time retained more moisture than control cheese. Bound water remained unaffected by the pressure treatment, whereas free water was higher in treated cheese during ripening. Free water content was linked with a w .

Colour Changes During Ripening of High Pressure Treated Hard Caprine Cheese

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment of cheese intended to accelerate ripening. Along with increased proteolysis, some other parameters were affected, colour being one of them. Right after HHP and at the end of ripening time, Hunterlab colour parameters were very similar in both control and cheese treated at 400 MPa, but during ripening they evolved in a different way. HHP-treated cheese had lower lightness and higher chroma values than control cheese and both characteristics were unexpectedly associated to higher moisture values. Those differences are attributed to changes in cheese microstructure.

Factors Affecting Bacterial Inactivation during High Hydrostatic Pressure Processing of Foods: A Review

Although, the High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) technology has been gaining gradual popularity in food industry since last two decades, intensive research is needed to explore the missing information. Bacterial inactivation in food by using HHP applications can be enhanced by getting deeper insights of the process. Some of these aspects have been already studied in detail (like pressure, time, and temperature, etc.), while some others still need to be investigated in more details (like pH, rates of compression, and decompression, etc.). Selection of process parameters is mainly dependent on type of matrix and target bacteria. This intensive review provides comprehensive information about the variety of aspects that can determine the bacterial inactivation potential of HHP process indicating the fields of future research on this subject including pH shifts of the pressure treated samples and critical limits of compression and decompression rates to accelerate the process efficacy.

Lethality and injuring the effect of compression and decompression rates of high hydrostatic pressure on Escherichia coli O157:H7 in different matrices

The effect of compression and decompression rates of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on Escherichia coli O157:H7 was investigated. Samples of orange juice, skimmed milk and Tris buffer were inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and subjected to 600 MPa for 3 min at 4°C with fast, medium and slow compression and decompression. Analyses immediately after HHP treatment revealed that E. coli in milk and juice treated with fast compression suffered more than slow compression rates. Slow decompression resulted in higher inactivation of E. coli in all matrices. After overnight storage, highest stress-recovery (1.19 log cfu/mL) was observed in Tris buffer. Healthy cells were<1 log cfu/mL in milk and buffer samples, but no growth was detected in orange juice for any of the treatments immediately after HHP. After 15 days at 4°C, E. coli cells in skimmed milk and Tris buffer recovered significantly, whereas the recovery of sublethally injured cells was inhibited in orange juice.

Decrease of free amino acids in high-pressure treated cheese

Abstract High-pressure treatment of cheese has been studied with a view to preserving fresh cheese [1], and also of developing a method of accelerating its ripening [2-7]. While these objectives can be reached, other changes also occur in cheese when high pressure is applied. One of those changes is the decrease of free amino acids (FAA) in cheese treated in pressures over 200-300MPa. In this paper we will try to summarize the results obtained by different research groups, as well as our own. These results have been published separately, but not previously tied together and explained.

Goat’s Milk Cheese Accelerated Ripening. Compositional Indexes

Cheese ripening is carried out by application of 50 MPa for three days. The results are compared with those obained by conventional processes.