Next Generation Food Preservation Methods for High Quality Foods in the Sustainable Society and Circular Economy Epoch.

Abstract:

The dominant food preservation methods used today were developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries and, since then, have played a significant role in ensuring unprecedented food abundance. However, in the 21st century, it has become evident that such processed foods pose significant, even pandemic, health risks and contribute to substantial food waste. In the era of the 5th Industrial Revolution, newly developed innovative food preservation methods offer solutions to these challenges by ensuring high-quality food with the benefits of fresh products, health-promoting properties, and extended shelf life. When adding natural reduction of losses and lower energy requirements during processing, a fair correlation with the Sustainable Civilization and the Circular Economy concept appears. 

This report highlights two such methods that have already reached market validation: supercritical fluids (SCF) technology and high-pressure processing (HPP). In addition to their basic features and advantages, this report focuses on the underlying fundamental base. The latter is used as a reference for their possible next-generation developments: supercritical technology in the liquid phase. This is based on the specific properties of linseed oil and the barocaloric effect. It enables extended pasteurisation or even sterilisation.

Aleksandra Drozd-Rzoska & Agata Angelika Sojecka