Current Validation of NTP Technologies and Overview of Their Current and Potential Implementation in the Production Chain Including Agri- food Wastes

Non-thermal processing (NTP) technologies have been designed principally for the microbial inactivation in order to replace the traditional thermal treatments. Due to the low temperature and short treatment time applied, NTP is able to better preserve the nutritional compounds and sensory properties of food products if compared with the conventional techniques. These benefits allowed a more expanded use of the NTP also in different application in food production chain and agri-food waste management and valorisation. In fact, some of the NT techniques (e.g. Pulsed Electric Field – PEF, Ultrasound – US, High pressure processing – HPP) could exert a double action. In addition to the microbial inactivation, they can also be used for mass transfer enhancement and structure modification in treated material; therefore, they can find applications in the cutting/peeling of fruit & vegetables, increasing of the extraction yield, decreasing drying/freezing time, and selected recovery of target compounds from agri-food wastes and by-products. The present book chapter will explore the current validation and current and potential implementation of these NT technologies in the food production chain and in agri-food waste, in order to enhance the processing efficiency at lower treatment intensity.