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NON THERMAL PRESERVATION

TECHNIQUES
Zarqa Azam (Roll# 27)
Riaheen Shahbaz (Roll# 29)
B.Sc. (Hons.) Food Science and Technology
Semester 8th –Regular

FST-609. Food Quality Management

Institute of Food Science and Nutrition (IFSN)

University of Sargodha, Sargodha
2016. 2
OUTLINE:
 Introduction
 Problems

 Uses

 Cost of equipments

 Objectives

 Types of non-thermal preservation techniques

 High pressure processing

 Irradiation
 Ozonation
 Ultrasound
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CONTI..
 Oscillating magnetic field
 Pulsed electric field
 Hurdle technologies
 Pulsed light processing
 Processing with E-Beam
 Sanitizer washes
 Natural antimicrobials
 Conclusion 4
INTRODUCTION

 Method use for processing and preservation.

 Keeping the temperature of food to minimum as much as
possible.
 Method use without heat.
 Destroy pathogens.
 Keep foods safe to eat .
 Retaining the sensory attributes.
 Nutrient content similar to raw or fresh products. 5
PROBLEMS

 Problem with the thermal processing :

 Loss of volatile compounds
 Nutrients
 Flavour
 To overcome these problems non thermal method
 came into food industries:
 To increase the production rate
 Profit.
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USES OF NON THERMAL PRESERVATION

 Used for bulk quantities of foods.

 Mainly used in the large scale production.
Cost of equipments:
 Used in the non thermal processing is high then used in
thermal processing.
 After minimizing the investment costs of non thermal
processing methods it can also be employed in small
scale industries 7
OBJECTIVES

 Extend shelf life

 Good quality

 Safe food with better nutrition

 Meet consumer requirements

 Better financial return to industry

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TYPES

 High pressure processing

 Irradiation

 Ozonation

 Ultrasound

 Oscillating magnetic field

 Pulsed electric field

 Hurdle technologies

 Pulsed light processing

 Processing with E-Beam

 Sanitizer washes

 Natural antimicrobials 9
HIGH PRESSURE PROCESSING
 “High Hydrostatic Pressure” or “Ultra High Pressure”
processing.
 Method of preserving and sterilizing food

 Product processed under very high pressure

 High Pressures applied at short periods of time

(20minutes)
 The high pressure used in HPP kills most micro-
organisms :
 By damaging cell components such as cell membranes

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HOW MUCH PRESSURE?

 For food processing 200-800MPa pressure is required.

For inactivating milk enzymes;

 Alkaline phosphates and protease about 1000 MPa is

needed.

 600MPa is the optimum pressure for processing

commercial food products.

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COMPONENTS

 A pressure vessel and its closure

 A pressure generation system
 A temperature control device
 A materials handling system

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PROCESS

 Food packages are loaded onto the vessel and the top is
closed

 The pressure medium usually water is pumped into the

vessel from the bottom.

 Once the desired pressure is reached, the pumping is

stopped, valves are closed, pressure can be maintained
without further need for energy input

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ADVANTAGES

 It kills vegetative bacteria and spores

 Reduced processing time.

 Freshness, flavor, nutrients, color, and taste retained

 Shelf life is increased

 Low energy consumption

 Elimination of chemical preservatives

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APPLICATIONS:

 Used in pasteurization and sterilization of fruits and fruit

products

 Tenderization of meat

 Sterilization of heat sensitive ingredients like shellfish,

flavorings, and vitamins

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OZONATION
 Powerful sanitizer similar to chlorine or common bleach
 Ozone can reduce contamination on food and increase
storage life.
 Toxic to humans at very high doses
 Should not be used to treat high fat foods.
Principle
Ozone does not act as a systemic poison to
microorganisms, but rather, destroys them by oxidation.
Consequently, it is impossible for a microorganism to
build up any resistance to oxidation
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ADVANTAGES OF OZONE
 Instantly destroys microbes

 Eliminates chemical storage

 Environmentally friendly

 Does not affect product taste

 No harmful by-products

 Can be used in air and water

 It leaves no residues in food or water.

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IRRADIATION

 Technology that improves the safety and extends the

shelf life of food by reducing or eliminating

microorganisms and insects.

 Irradiation can make food safer for the consumer

 Irradiation to a dose of between 1 kGy and 10 kGy is an

effective method of reducing the microbial load of food. 18

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ADVANTAGES

 Extend the shelf life

 Irradiation may also inactivate enzymes..

 Low dose irradiation (less than 1 kGy) is also used to

inhibit sprouting (e.g. onion, garlic, potato)

 Used for the purpose of insect disinfestations and

inactivation 20
ULTRASOUND

 Form of energy generated by sound waves of frequencies

that are too high to be detected by human ear, i.e.16KHz

 Ultrasound can be propagate in liquid,gasses,solids.

 Effective for inactivation of microorganisms and

enzymes.

 Produce intracellular cavitations due to micro

mechanical shocks
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ULTRASOUND IN INDUSTRY
 Major significant to industry and consumer

 Better quality and healthy food

 High efficiency

 Saves energy and cost

 Minimizing of flavor loss

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OSCILLATING MAGNETIC FIELD

 A magnetic field is defined as the region in which

magnetic material is able to magnetize the surrounding

particles.

 Magnetic field may be static or oscillating

 In order to inactivate microorganisms, flux density of 5

to 50 tesla (T) is required, corresponding to very high

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intensity magnetic fields.
CONT..
HOW HIGH INTENSITY MAGNETIC FIELDS
ARE GENERATED?
 Generated by an electric current passing through a coil
 Capacitor is charged by high voltage DC power supply
 By closing the switch
 An oscillating current is produced inside the capacitor
 And then an oscillating magnetic field is induced to the
food placed inside the magnet coil
 For high magnetic fields, superconductor coils are used
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 40KA current is required
CONTI..

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CONTI..
HOW THIS MECHANISM INACTIVATES M/O
 Magnetic fields alter the growth and reproduction of
microorganisms by both genetic and bio chemical
phenomena

 Effect may be due to magnetic field or induced electric

field

 Depending upon both features of magnetic field and

properties of food and microbial:

 The growth of microbial may be inhibited

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 Or unaltered by this technique

CONTI..
APPLICATIONS
 Some packed liquid foods such as milk, yoghurt, orange
juices etc
 They may be subjected to oscillating magnetic field with a
frequency between 5 and 550 kHz.
 For a total exposure time between 25µs and 10ms.
 Performed at atmospheric pressure and room temperature,
resulting in a temperature increase not higher than 5˚C
 Therefore a good retention of nutritional and sensory
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properties of foods is assured.
PULSED ELECTRIC FIELD (PEF)

 Another non-thermal technology that can be use to

inactivate bacterial cells at ambient temperatures

 More suitable for liquids and semi liquid foods which

can be easily pumped

 Can be used to increase the shelf life of soups, milk,

whole liquid eggs and fruit juices 28

CONTI..
HOW THIS PROCESS OCCURS?
 Process involves placing the food material between two

electrodes

 And passing pulses of high electric field strength (1-50

kV/cm)

 Since the pulses are applied for short durations (2µs to

1ms) the negative impact on food quality due to heat

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processing is highly diminished
CONTI..
APPLICATION OF PEF RESULTS IN:

 Cellular death due to generation of pores

(electroporation) in the bacterial cell membrane

 Without having an effect on enzymes or proteins present

in foods
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CONTI..
EFFECTIVENESS
 The effectiveness of this technique will strongly depend

upon

 Treatment time

 Electric field strength

 Specific energy of the pulses

 Although this technique is useful, inactivation has only

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been achieved in the range of 3-4 logs.
CONTI..
ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS
 Advantages:

 Pulse applied for shirt period so no generation of heat

 Less usage of energy

 Limitations:

 Cannot be applied to the foods which cannot

withstand high fields

 And foods that form bubbles

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HURDLE TECHNOLOGY OR SYNERGISM
 Hurdle approach or process of using multiple
technologies is an effective approach to microbial
decontamination in comparison to that of a single
technology alone

 Deliberate and intelligent combination of preservative

treatment can help in maintaining the quality of food and
delivering almost similar level of microbial destruction

 At the same time it warranties to counteract the negative

effect of individual technologies on food quality 33
CONTI..
 The choice of hurdles will strongly depends on

 The type of food it is being applied to in addition to

the mode of inactivation

 For example:

 Exposure of egg shells contaminated with

S.Enteritidis with UV radiation (1500-2500 µW/cm²)
followed by ozone (5 lb/in² gauge for 1min) resulted
in an inactivation of 4.6 logs or more in a total
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treatment time of 2 min
PULSED LIGHT (PL) PROCESSING

 Non thermal technology that uses short, intense pulses of

white light which include ultraviolet, infrared, visible

light

 Treatment of foods by PL has been approved by FDA (21

CFRI79.41)

 PL is like a camera flash but far more intense 35

CONTI..
HOW IT WORKS?

 When this light is flashed on foods, it kills

microorganisms but has minimal impact on foods

 Short flashes of this intense light are used to prevent the

temperature of the food from increasing

 Within PL there is ultraviolet light that kills the

pathogens by disrupting their DNA. 36

PROCESSING WITH E-BEAM
 Non-thermal technology where the high energy electrons

(close to the speed of light) are aimed at solid or liquid

foods

 Reducing the number of or eliminating pathogens, pests

or insects

 Unlike Gamma radiations this technology uses no

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radioactive isotopes
CONTI..
HOW IT WORKS?
 E-beam may work against pathogens such as viruses and
bacteria
 by breaking the linkages in RNA or DNA
 and by disrupting other parts that are essential to
organisms
 Some Drawbacks include:
 Limited penetration depth through food
 High initial cost 38
NATURAL ANTIMICROBIALS

 Since ancient times spices and herbs have been used for

preventing food spoilage and deterioration

 Also for extending shelf life and food quality

 The antimicrobial effect of these components is a result

of an increase in permeability of the cytoplasmic

membrane which leads to the loss of cellular constituents 39

CONTI..
EXTRACTS FROM VEGETABLES, HERBS

 Plants secondary metabolites such as essential oils and

natural plant extracts have also been reported to have

antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-insecticidal properties

 Extracts from capsicum, seaweeds and green tea have

been found to inhibit the growth of Salmonella spp.

 Tomatoes treated with 100ppm oregano (herb) results in

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2.78 log reduction.
USING SANITIZER WASHES
 Sanitizers like chlorine, are used by the food industry
that helps to kill pathogens in food and on
equipments/utensil surfaces

 FDA regulates the sanitizers to be used by food industry

 Microorganisms attach to the food, can lower the

effectiveness of sanitizer and to address this problem

 Use of surfactants (components of detergents) is being

studied to enhance the effectiveness of sanitizer 41
CONTI..
HOW IT WORKS
 Combining food grade surfactants with sanitizers
 Improves the killing effectiveness

 When applied to surface of food

 By “Loosing” microorganisms attachment

 Allowing the sanitizer to be more potent antimicrobial

agent

 The combination of sanitizer and surfactants has

not yet been commercialized but shows greater
potential.
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HENCE:

 Non Thermal or Alternative Food Processing

Methods Enhance the

 MICROBIAL SAFETY

 FOOD QUALITY
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