脉冲电场在固体食品加工中的应用

脉冲电场(PEF)技术被视为21世纪食品非热加工技术发展史上的里程碑之一。迄今为止,PEF已广泛应用于果汁、牛奶和液态蛋等液体食品的杀菌和钝酶,并朝着商业化道路前进。然而,与PEF在液体食品中的应用相比,其在固体食品中的应用还处于起步阶段。固体食品的表面虽然也富含微生物,但PEF处理这类食品对微生物的影响较小,因此不能将其应用于固体食品的杀菌保鲜。仅管如此,PEF诱导的细胞电穿孔使其可作为一种预处理方法,通过增加质量和能量传递效率的方式来进行辅助固体食品的干燥、冻融、烹饪等。因此,本文重点介绍基于PEF细胞响应的高品质食品加工应用,总结PEF处理室的特点及PEF预处理固体食品的相关机理。最后,本文探讨了PEF在固体食品加工中的主要障碍和前景,为PEF未来在食品行业的发展拓宽研究方向。

Application of pulsed electric field in solid food processing

Pulsed electric field (PEF) technology is regarded as one of the milestones in the history of non-thermal food processing technology developed in the 21st century. So far, PEF has been extensively used in the sterilization and inactivation enzymes of liquid food such as juice, milk, and liquid egg products, and its commercial applications were gradually becoming popular. However, PEF application to solid foods is still in the infancy stage as compared to its application to liquid foods. Although the surface of solid foods is also rich in microorganisms, PEF treatment of such food has little effect on microorganisms, so it cannot be applied to the sterilization and preservation of solid foods. Nonetheless, PEF-induced electroporation of cells makes it useful as a pre-treatment method for drying, freezing-thawing, and cooking, by increasing mass transfer. Therefore, this review focused on high-quality food processing applications based on PEF cellular responses, and summarized the characteristics of the PEF treatment chamber and the related mechanism of PEF pre-treatment of solid foods. Finally, this paper looked forward to the main challenges and opportunities of PEF in food processing. This review is expected to broaden future research directions for PEF in the solid foods industry.