Recent advances in radio frequency, pulsed light, and cold plasma technologies for food safety

Abstract

It has been the heartbeat of researchers and food engineers to discover the appropriate and effective technology for microbial control to ensure the safety of food. This is because microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa can cause contamination in food products. Many studies have published reviews on the use of single novel technology such as radio frequency (RF), pulsed light (PL), and cold plasma (CP) to process food to ensure food safety. However, no review has provided a comprehensive, detailed overview of the RF, PL, and CP treatments for pasteurizing food products in one publication. This study aims to review and present the future directions of RF, PL, and CP applications in light of various aspects of these technologies. The review concluded that although no novel technique (thermal or nonthermal) could adequately meet all the requirements for food safety, traditional thermal processes can be extremely useful in reducing and eliminating microbe contamination. However, they cannot be applied to temperature-sensitive foods. Besides inactivating microbial spores, traditional thermal processes can denature proteins as well as organoleptic properties, such as taste, nutritional value, and sensory characteristics, illustrating the importance of these novel technologies as an alternative to heat-based techniques. As a result of this study, hurdle technology is recommended since it has an additive effect and achieves better germicidal results.