High-Speed and High-Pressure Homogenization Techniques for Optimization of Food Processing, Quality, and Safety

The current review presents the advantages and health benefits of the fast growing homogenization techniques for improving food processing using the high-speed homogenization (HSH) and the high-pressure homogenization (HPH) to overcome the main problems encountering food manufacturers, merchandizers and end consumers which are the short shelf-life or nonconformity of food products. HSH and HPH are considered as an efficient alternative tool to thermal processes that cause many undesirable effects such as nonenzymatic browning (NEB), off-flavor or degradation of bioactive components. HPH treatment contributes to microbial load reduction and enzyme inactivation with increase of functionality in terms of health effect by increasing bioavailability by favoring the release of bioactive compounds, modified structures of biopolymers with improvement of novel interactions within particles networking. Homogenizers vary according to the purpose needed to achieve. Laboratory Homogenizers provide research and development (R&D) scientists with more experimentation options and capabilities for emulsions, dispersions, cell rupture, and liposomes with the capability of innovations, improve existing products, and more efficient manufacturing. While the Pilot and Industrial Homogenizers offer unique flexibility to meet every customer’s particular requirements in reproducing the same product quality as developed in the laboratory with increasingly higher levels of plant integration with complete automation, controls and data acquisition. Many laboratory and industrial applications were cited here to highlight the significance of this powerful technology.