Analysing the repercussions of ultrasound on triacylglycerols in food

Abstract

Industrial demand for higher rates of production and producing higher quality end products along with consumers’ demand for food diversity is the most important driving force for the development of innovative and intensified processes involving the use of ultrasound. Although ultrasound has many positive benefits, intense cavitation effects can alter the food components, such as lipids leading to the reduced nutritional quality of food. It was clearly brought out from the review that the operating parameters need to be optimized depending on the food product to be processed and the type of processing operation to minimize the negative effects on lipids. Commonly used ultrasound equipment include ultrasonic baths to horns at laboratory scales and modified designs of ultrasonic horns or flow cells suitable at larger levels. The typically recommended frequencies were 20 – 40 kHz whereas optimum ultrasound intensity, sonication time and duty cycle is important to be selected. The review also presented a close understanding of the oxidation process, and factors responsible for lipid oxidation during ultrasound-assisted processes like extraction, emulsification, homogenization, and microbial inactivation of high-lipid foods. Overall, a closer look at the ultrasound effects on the lipids has been presented along with guidelines to minimize the negative effects.

Keywords

• Ultrasound
• Lipids
• Oxidation
• Operating parameters
• Extraction
• Emulsification