Title : Safe and sustainable food manufacturing through advanced thermal, nonthermal, and extrusion processing strategies
Abstract:
Novel food processing technologies are transforming the global food industry by enhancing product safety, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. Advanced thermal methods, including microwave-assisted heating, ohmic heating, and radio-frequency systems, provide swift and homogeneous heat transfer, reducing thermal damage while ensuring effective microbial inactivation. Simultaneously, cutting-edge nonthermal technologies—such as high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, cold plasma, and sophisticated ultrasound—maintain fresh-like characteristics, useful chemicals, and structural integrity while enhancing food safety. Extrusion technology has evolved into a very adaptable platform, shifting from traditional cooking to the precise structure of food matrices. High-moisture extrusion facilitates the formation of fibrous structures in plant-based meat alternatives, whereas low-shear and supercritical fluid extrusion promote regulated expansion, encapsulation, and nutrient dissemination. Moreover, digital extrusion instruments, such as multi-material 3D food printing, provide prospects for individualized nutrition and innovative sensory design. The amalgamation of these technologies with real-time biosensing, machine learning-driven control, and predictive process modeling improves process uniformity, resource efficiency, and traceability. These advances collectively conform to consumer and regulatory demands for minimally processed, functional, and sustainable foods. Ongoing multidisciplinary research into process mechanisms, product-structure interactions, and commercialization paths is essential for guaranteeing their extensive acceptance and influence on future food systems.
