Ultrasound assisted processing of milk: Advances and challenges

Abstract

High-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) is a green technology that has improved various processes in the food industry. HIUS leads to improved heat and mass transfer rates, providing a faster processing technique and limiting production costs by increasing process efficiency. In food processing, ultrasound is regarded as a promising emerging technology with the potential to speed up processes and produce high quality products. This article describes recent applications of power ultrasound for physical milk processing, mentions the advantage and disadvantages of this technology, evaluates the physical and chemical effects of HIUS on the modification of milk, and novel research areas leading to the promotion and solving the challenges ahead. It is concluded that HIUS is a useful tool for milk processing, because of its positive effects on the quality and retaining their initial nutritional properties and sensory characteristics. It can also be considered that the forthcoming research will lead to the improvement and industrialization of this technology. Practical ApplicationsAs a very important food item in the human diet, milk has very sensitive components that usually undergo undesirable changes during processing. Power ultrasound is an emerging green technology that has a great potential for application in dairy processing that can significantly reduce such unfavorable changes. It has been proven that ultrasound has an appropriate capability to accelerate processes, reduce energy consumption and increase productivity. This technology has been successfully used in pasteurization, homogenization, filtration, and drying of milk in laboratory scale.Ultrasound has a very high potential for industrialization in the dairy industry and draws a promising perspective for its conventional applications in the production of dairy products in the not-too-distant future.

Microbiological stabilization of fresh cow’s milk (<i>Bos taurus</i>) by ultrasonic pretreatment and low temperature thermal treatment

“…Por ello el tratamiento térmico suele ser el método más usado para preservar la calidad y seguridad de la leche, debiéndose usar temperaturas bajas en su pasterización para minimizar las pérdidas de calidad (Wang et al, 2021); pero debido a esta limitación en la temperatura hace que la inactivación de bacterias y de enzimas termo resistentes sea limitada reduciendo la vida útil de la leche (Yu et al, 2022). Las tecnologías emergentes como los ultrasonidos de alta potencia se están investigando como reemplazo a las tecnologías térmicas en leche y productos lácteos (Jiménez-Sánchez et al, 2017); pero con resultados poco satisfactorios (Soltani et al, 2022) o francamente contradictorios (Lim et al, 2019); de ahí la necesidad de plantear el uso de ultrasonidos desde un enfoque nuevo, donde los ultrasonidos sean parte de un sistema de barreras que aproveche sus ventajas (mayor eficiencia a energética, aplicación a baja temperatura y ecológicamente amigable) (Juraga et al, 2021) y minimice sus desventajas (producción de olores extraños, incremento de la oxidación por generación de radicales libres, etc.) (Marchesini et al, 2015).…”

Antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds of Commiphora gileadensis extracts obtained by ultrasonic‐assisted extraction, with monitoring antiaging and cytotoxicity activities

“…Ultrasound‐assisted extraction is one of the simplest and most cost‐effective technologies available for improving extraction efficiency, decreasing extraction time, and enhancing overall effectiveness of processing (Usman et al, 2022 ). The process of ultrasound‐assisted extraction (USE) involves the formation of bubbles by a process called “acoustic cavitation,” which is facilitated by ultrasonic waves' ability to cause expansion and compression cycles (Soltani Firouz et al, 2022 ). Cavitation forces create a localized pressure that ruptures cell walls in the matrix when these bubbles burst, releasing their contents (Jadhav et al, 2023 ).…”

Ultrasonic applications in food process engineering

“…The third focus of this special issue centers on the use of ultrasound technology as an eco‐friendly approach for stabilizing and altering the physicochemical properties and structures of proteins. Ultrasonication has been utilized to enhance the physical processing of milk, such as pasteurization, homogenization, filtration, and drying, with the possibility of mitigating unfavorable alterations (Soltani Firouz et al, 2023). An innovative pretreatment approach employing lowpower ultrasound was presented to improve the umami flavor of chicken broth by modifying its meat proteins (Wu et al, 2023).…”

“…Ultrasonication has been utilized to enhance the physical processing of milk, such as pasteurization, homogenization, filtration, and drying, with the possibility of mitigating unfavorable alterations (Soltani Firouz et al, 2023). An innovative pretreatment approach employing lowpower ultrasound was presented to improve the umami flavor of chicken broth by modifying its meat proteins (Wu et al, 2023).…”