Non-Thermal Methods of Food Preservation

Consumers nowadays are well aware of ongoing addition of the chemical preservatives and all detrimental health effects that come along with the use of such food additives. Food industries on the other hand, have invested and are majorly relying mostly on conventional thermal processing, which poses a great threat to heat labile food components such as pigments, anti-oxidants, bio-active compounds etc. Retaining such heat labile nutrients involves great amount of innovation and complex process design. Non-thermal processing methods have recently gained importance and interest because of consumers growing demand for minimally processed and fresh like foods. Some of the popular non-thermal methods include: Ohmic heating, microwave heating, high-hydrostatic pressure treatment, ultrasonication, pulsed electric field method and cold plasma. The following review aims to summarize various techniques, which are available for implementing and practicing non-thermal ways of preservation as these processes not only meet industry needs by offering value-added products and new market opportunities but also serve today’s consumers with evolved eating habits.