Research Progress on the Effects of Ultrasonic Cavitation on Food Quality

Abstract:

Ultrasound generally refers to mechanical waves with a frequency of 20 kHz or more exhibiting high frequency，short wavelength and strong penetrability. As a non-thermal food processing technique，ultrasound has been applied in various fields of food processing such as emulsification，crystallization，homogenization，cutting，cleaning，hydrolysis，extraction，accelerating aging，enzyme and microbial inactivation，etc. Compared with the conventional thermal techniques，ultrasound presents many advantages such as simple device，no chemical residues，short processing time，lower energy consumption，minimal thermal effects，less influence on food quality，and so on. However，the color，aroma，texture and nutrition of food would be affected by the high-power and long-time processing of ultrasonic cavitation，which negatively affected the appearance and edibility of food. This article mainly reviewed the global progress in this field，providing the theoretical basis and technical support for further application of ultrasound in food processing.