Processing advances treble food shelf life
New advances in food processing can treble the shelf life of products and increase fruit juice extraction yield by 3%.
Pulsed electric field preservation (PEF-P) perforates cell membranes within food, and kills microbes without affecting product quality or appearance.
This could extend the shelf life of fresh orange juice, for example, from seven to 21 days.
It could also increase cost-benefit by 10-15% compared to conventional processing.
Low-cost pulse generators will be applicable to fruit juice; tomato products; olive oil; and wine/cider-making.
In tests on fruit juice, for example, PEF improved food safety, while trebling the shelf life of the fresh product.
The latest experiments also demonstrated a potential 3% increase in extraction yield.
One of the objectives in the EU-funded i3-Food project is to foster greater industry adoption of these innovative food processing technologies. The project is showcasing the piloted technology at several high-visibility events across Europe, to raise awareness.
It is proving difficult to get the research breakthroughs into the
industry, and there has been little uptake of the new methods.
This may be so because most European food-processing
companies are small to medium enterprises, which may be unable to make substantial investments in new technology.
Researchers have also discovered that high pressure thermal sterilisation can be applied to longer-life products, such as ready meals, to produce higher-quality packed foods with better colour, taste, and texture. And low-shear extrusion of cold food products provides greater control over fat crystallisation in spreadable,
viscous products, so that they look, smell, and taste better.
Irish scientists shared in these breakthroughs through the €2m-funded FieldFOOD project across seven member states.
