High Pressure Processing of Foods for Microbial and Mycotoxins Control: <i>current trends and future prospects</i>

TLDR

Consumers demand fresh‑like, convenient products that retain nutrition and organoleptic qualities for extended storage, challenging food industries, and high‑pressure processing (HPP) can improve safety by destroying microorganisms and reducing fungal toxins while preserving quality and extending shelf life. This review synthesizes current research on HPP for microbial and mycotoxin control in the food industry and proposes future research directions. HPP is applied as an emerging technology that destroys pathogens and reduces mycotoxins, preserving food quality and extending shelf life.

Abstract

Consumers demand "fresh-like" and convenient products with preserved nutritional and organoleptic characteristics that can be kept for extended periods of time without compromising safety. This has posed greater challenges to food industries. High-pressure processing (HPP) can improve food safety by destroying the microorganisms that cause food-borne illness and spoilage that cause diseases. It also leads to the reduction of fungal toxic metabolites in food products when combined with moderate temperature. HPP holds promise as an emerging food treatment to process premium value food products while retaining food quality, maintaining natural freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life. This review presents current research findings associated with applying HPP as an emerging technology for microbial and mycotoxin control in the food industry and suggests future work.