Response of Spores to High‐Pressure Processing

ABSTRACT: This review focuses on the responses of microbial spores to food processes that incorporate high hydrostatic pressures. While the majority of information deals with spores of Bacillus species, spores of Clostridium and Alicyclobacillus species are also discussed, and a section of the review surveys the responses of fungal spores to high‐pressure processing. The mechanisms of the germination of bacterial spores are outlined in detail with regard to spore physiology and structure, along with molecular aspects of germinants and the interaction with spore receptors. Use of treatments combining pressure and temperature for a range of different food products is reviewed, including examples of hurdle technology employing high hydrostatic pressure. Pressure‐assisted thermal sterilization is also discussed.     

Continuous Versus Discontinuous Ultra‐High‐Pressure Systems for Food Sterilization with Focus on Ultra‐High‐Pressure Homogenization and High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: A Review

High‐pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) and ultra‐high‐pressure homogenization (UHPH) are two emerging sterilization techniques that have not been implemented in the food industry yet. The two technologies apply different acting principles as HPTS uses isostatic pressure in combination with heat whereas UHPH uses dynamic pressure in combination with shear stress, cavitation, impingement, and heat. Both technologies offer significant benefits in terms of spore inactivation in food production with reduced thermal intensity and minimized effects on sensory and nutritional profiles. These benefits have resulted in relevant research efforts on both technologies over the past few decades. This state of the art of the discontinuous HPTS‐based and the continuous UHPH‐based sterilization concepts are assessed within this review. Further, various basic principles and promising future preservation applications of HPTS and UHPH for food processing, that are also applicable in the pharmaceutical, biochemical, and biotechnological sectors, are summarized. In addition, the applications and limitations of these technologies in terms of optimizations needed to overcome the identified challenges are emphasized.     

High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: Food Safety and Food Quality of Baby Food Puree

The benefits that high‐pressure thermal sterilization offers as an emerging technology could be used to produce a better overall food quality. Due to shorter dwell times and lower thermal load applied to the product in comparison to the thermal retorting, lower numbers and quantities of unwanted food processing contaminants (FPCs), for example, furan, acrylamide, HMF, and MCPD‐esters could be formed. Two spore strains were used to test the technique; Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, over the temperature range 90 to 121 °C at 600 MPa. The treatments were carried out in baby food puree and ACES‐buffer. The treatments at 90 and 105 °C showed that G. stearothermophilus is more pressure‐sensitive than B. amyloliquefaciens. The formation of FPCs was monitored during the sterilization process and compared to the amounts found in retorted samples of the same food. The amounts of furan could be reduced between 81% to 96% in comparison to retorting for the tested temperature pressure combination even at sterilization conditions of F₀‐value in 7 min.     

Total Protein Methods and Their Potential Utility to Reduce the Risk of Food Protein Adulteration

Abstract: Kjeldahl and combustion (Dumas) methods are widely accepted for total protein determination but lack analytical selectivity for protein because they measure protein on the basis of sample nitrogen content. Adulteration incidents exploiting this analytical vulnerability (for example, melamine) demonstrate that these methods are no longer sufficient to protect the public health. This article explores the challenges and opportunities to move beyond total nitrogen based methods for total protein measurement. First, it explores the early history of protein measurement science, complexities of current global protein measurement activities, and ideal analytical performance characteristics for new methods. Second, it comprehensively reviews the pros and cons of current and emerging approaches for protein measurement, including their selectivity for protein, ability to detect adulteration, and practicality for routine use throughout the supply chain. It concludes that some existing highly selective methods for food protein measurement have potential for routine quality control. It also concludes that their successful implementation will require matrix‐specific validation and the use of supporting reference materials. These methods may be suitable only for food ingredients that have a low degree of compositional variability and are not complex finished food products.     

New Insights into the High‐Pressure Processing of Meat and Meat Products

Abstract: For years, high‐pressure processing has been viewed as useful for pasteurizing food while maintaining the quality of fresh food. However, even at moderate pressure, this process is not without effects on food, especially on meat products. These effects are especially important because pressure greater than 400 MPa is generally necessary to achieve efficient microbial inactivation. In this review, recent advances in the understanding of the impacts of high pressure on the overall quality of raw and processed meat are discussed. Many factors, including meat product formulation and processing parameters, can influence the efficiency of high pressure in pasteurizing meat products. It appears that new strategies are applied either (i) to improve the microbial inactivation that results from high pressure while minimizing the adverse effects of high pressure on meat quality or (ii) to take advantage of changes in meat attributes under high pressure. Most of the time, multiple preservation factors or techniques are combined to produce safe, stable, and high‐quality food products. Among the new applications of high‐pressure techniques for meat and meat‐derivative products are their use in combination with temperature manipulation to texturize and pasteurize new meat products simultaneously.     

Survival and High‐Hydrostatic Pressure Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens in Salmorejo,a Traditional Ready‐to‐Eat Food

Salmorejo is a traditional tomato‐based creamy product. Because salmorejo is not heat‐processed, there is a risk of contamination with foodborne pathogens from raw materials. Even though bacterial growth in salmorejo is strongly inhibited because of its acidic pH (close to 3.9), the growth and survival of 3 foodborne pathogens in this food has not been studied before. In this study, 3 cocktails consisting of Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes strains were inoculated in freshly prepared salmorejo. The food was treated by high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) at 400, 500, or 600 MPa for 8 min, or left untreated, and stored at 4 °C for 30 d. Viable cell counts were determined on selective media and also by the triple‐layer agar method in order to detect sublethally injured cells. In control samples, L. monocytogenes viable cells decreased by 2.4 log cycles at day 7 and were undetectable by day 15. S. enterica cells decreased by 0.5 or 2.4 log cycles at days 7 and 15 respectively, but still were detectable at day 30. E. coli O157 cells survived much better in salmorejo, decreasing only by 1.5 log cycles at day 30. Treatments at pressures of 400 MPa or higher reduced viable counts of L. monocytogenes and S. enterica to undetectable levels. HHP treatments significantly (P < 0.05) reduced E. coli counts by approximately 5.2 to 5.4 log cycles, but also yielded surviving cells that apparently were sublethally injured. Only samples treated at 600 MPA for 8 min were devoid of detectable E. coli cells during storage.     

Effects of Ultraviolet Light and High‐Pressure Processing on Quality and Health‐Related Constituents of Fresh Juice Products

Fresh juices are highly popular beverages in the global food market. They are perceived as wholesome, nutritious, all‐day beverages. For a fast growing category of premium juice products such as cold‐pressed juices, minimal‐processing nonthermal techniques such as ultraviolet (UV) light and high‐pressure processing (HPP) are expected to be used to extend shelf‐life while retaining physicochemical, nutritional, and sensory characteristics with reduced microbial loads. Also, UV light and HPP are approved by regulatory agencies and recognized as one of the simplest and very environmentally friendly ways to destroy pathogenic organisms. One of the limitations to their more extensive commercial application lies in the lack of comparative effects on nutritional and quality‐related compounds in juice products. This review provides a comparative analysis using 92 studies (UV light: 42, HPP: 50) mostly published between 2004 and 2015 to evaluate the effects of reported UV light and HPP processing conditions on the residual content or activity of bioactive compounds such as vitamins, polyphenols, antioxidants, and oxidative enzymes in 45 different fresh fruit and vegetable juices (low‐acid, acid, and high‐acid categories). Also, the effects of UV light and HPP on color and sensory characteristics of juices are summarized and discussed.     

Effects of Rigor Status during High‐Pressure Processing on the Physical Qualities of Farm‐Raised Abalone (Haliotis rufescens)

High‐pressure processing (HPP) is used to increase meat safety and shelf‐life, with conflicting quality effects depending on rigor status during HPP. In the seafood industry, HPP is used to shuck and pasteurize oysters, but its use on abalones has only been minimally evaluated and the effect of rigor status during HPP on abalone quality has not been reported. Farm‐raised abalones (Haliotis rufescens) were divided into 12 HPP treatments and 1 unprocessed control treatment. Treatments were processed pre‐rigor or post‐rigor at 2 pressures (100 and 300 MPa) and 3 processing times (1, 3, and 5 min). The control was analyzed post‐rigor. Uniform plugs were cut from adductor and foot meat for texture profile analysis, shear force, and color analysis. Subsamples were used for scanning electron microscopy of muscle ultrastructure. Texture profile analysis revealed that post‐rigor processed abalone was significantly (P < 0.05) less firm and chewy than pre‐rigor processed irrespective of muscle type, processing time, or pressure. L values increased with pressure to 68.9 at 300 MPa for pre‐rigor processed foot, 73.8 for post‐rigor processed foot, 90.9 for pre‐rigor processed adductor, and 89.0 for post‐rigor processed adductor. Scanning electron microscopy images showed fraying of collagen fibers in processed adductor, but did not show pressure‐induced compaction of the foot myofibrils. Post‐rigor processed abalone meat was more tender than pre‐rigor processed meat, and post‐rigor processed foot meat was lighter in color than pre‐rigor processed foot meat, suggesting that waiting for rigor to resolve prior to processing abalones may improve consumer perceptions of quality and market value.     

Inhibitor‐Assisted High‐Pressure Inactivation of Bacteria in Skim Milk

The combined inactivation effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and antimicrobial compounds (potassium sorbate and ε‐polylysine [ε‐PL]) on 4 different bacterial strains present in skim milk and the effect of these treatments on milk quality were investigated in this study. HHP treatment at 500 MPa for 5 min reduced the populations of Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus from 6.5 log colony‐forming units (CFUs) or higher to less than 1 log CFU/mL. Compared to HHP alone, HHP with potassium or ε‐PL resulted in significantly higher reductions in the bacterial counts. After 5 min of treatment with HHP (500 MPa) and ε‐PL (2 mg/mL), no growth of E. coli, S. enterica Typhimurium, or L. monocytogenes in skim milk was observed during 15 d of refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C). Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the synergistic treatments caused more serious damage to the bacterial cell walls. Quality assessments of the treated samples indicated that the combined treatments did not influence the color, the turbidity, the concentrations of –SH group of the proteins, or the in vitro digestion patterns of the milk. This study demonstrates that HHP with potassium or ε‐PL may be useful in the processing of milk or milk‐containing foods.     

A Gompertz Model Approach to Microbial Inactivation Kinetics by High‐Pressure Processing (HPP): Model Selection and Experimental Validation

A recently proposed Gompertz model (GMPZ) approach describing microbial inactivation kinetics by high‐pressure processing (HPP) incorporated the initial microbial load (N₀) and lower microbial quantification limit (N_lim), and simplified the dynamic effects of come‐up time (CUT). The inactivation of Listeria innocua in milk by HPP treatments at 300, 400, 500, and 600 MPa and pressure holding times (t_hold) ≤10 min was determined experimentally to validate this model approach. Models based on exponential, logistic‐exponential, and inverse functions were evaluated to describe the effect of pressure on the lag time (λ) and maximum inactivation rate (μ_max), whereas the asymptote difference (A) was fixed as A = log₁₀(N₀/N_lim). Model performance was statistically evaluated and further validated with additional data obtained at 450 and 550 MPa. All GMPZ models adequately fitted L. innocua data according to the coefficient of determination (R² ≥ 0.95) but those including a logistic‐exponential function for μ_max(P) were superior (R² ≥ 0.97). These GMPZ versions predicted that approximately 597 MPa is the theoretical pressure level (P_λ) at which microbial inactivation begins during CUT, mathematically defined as λ (P = P_λ) = t_CUT, and matching the value observed on the microbial survival curve at 600 MPa. As pressure increased, predictions tended to slightly underestimate the HPP lethality in the tail section of the survival curve. This may be overseen in practice since the observed microbial counts were below the predicted log₁₀ N values. Overall, the modeling approach is promising, justifying further validation work for other microorganisms and food systems.