Multi-Pulsed High Hydrostatic Pressure Treatment of Foods

Abstract

Multi-pulsed high hydrostatic pressure (mpHHP) treatment of foods has been investigated for more than two decades. It was reported that the mpHHP treatment, with few exceptions, is more effective than the classical or single-pulsed HHP (spHHP) treatment for inactivation of microorganisms in fruit juice, dairy products, liquid whole egg, meat products, and sea foods. Moreover, the mpHHP treatment could be also used to inactivate enzymes in foods and to increase the shelf-life of foods. The effects of the mpHHP treatment of foods are summarized and the differences between the mpHHP and spHHP are also emphasized.

High Hydrostatic Pressure Treatment of Meat Products

“…HHP was very well accepted since its beginning as an alternative to thermal inactivation treatments and as an in-package cold pasteurisation process [4]. In the last three decades, the number of companies with HHP facilities has increased considerably in the world, from just a few in 1990 to more than 200 units and with an increasing capacity [30].…”

“…The packaged food is usually submerged in water inside a tank, and through this, high pressure is caused. HHP treatment will inactivate bacteria, yeast, moulds and enzymes equivalent to thermal pasteurisation processed but preserving the taste, colour and nutritious value of the product [4,6,23,30,31]. The treatment can be prepackaging (liquid food) or post-packaging (all types of food), although the latter is most frequently used [20].…”

“…In the single HPP treatment, a compression hold for a certain time is followed by decompression to atmospheric pressure, while in the mpHHP more than one compression is applied with its respective decompression phase. It was reported that the mpHHP treatment, with few exceptions, is more effective than the classical or single-pulsed HHP treatment for inactivation of microorganisms in fruit juice, dairy products, liquid whole egg, meat products and seafood [4]. The reports of applying mpHHP on meat products describe better inactivation rates of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Enteritidis in ground beef and chicken fillets, respectively, than the classic HHP [4,36,37].…”

“…It was reported that the mpHHP treatment, with few exceptions, is more effective than the classical or single-pulsed HHP treatment for inactivation of microorganisms in fruit juice, dairy products, liquid whole egg, meat products and seafood [4]. The reports of applying mpHHP on meat products describe better inactivation rates of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Enteritidis in ground beef and chicken fillets, respectively, than the classic HHP [4,36,37]. Moreover, the mpHHP treatment could also be used to inactivate enzymes in foods and to increase the shelf life of foods [4].…”

“…All the facts mentioned above has made companies look for alternative techniques that guarantee the safety of their products, as is the case of HHP. HHP has become a reality in the food industry and has spread worldwide [4]. This technique achieves a microbial inactivation without using high temperatures, so they manage to keep the sensory characteristics of the product almost intact, providing a larger commercial shelf life [5][6][7].…”