Microalgae are known to have higher photosynthetic efficiencies when compared to land-based plants. The use of microalgae biomass as a protein source is attracting attention due to its interesting protein composition and sustainable character when compared to conventional animal and plant protein-based sources. Nonetheless, the existence of a rigid cell wall is typical for most microalgae species, and this presents a serious obstacle to a higher bioaccessibility of their valuable protein fractions. Depending on the cell wall composition, the gastrointestinal digestion process itself can result in different pathways of protein absorption. It is then important to understand how microalgae cell wall structure can be affected during traditional and industrial production of its biomass once these questions are often overlooked. This review intends to fulfill this gap by addressing the major impacts of innovative sustainable processing of microalgae biomass, giving particular attention to drying operations and cellular disruption methods based on electric field application—such as pulsed electric fields (PEF) and moderate electric fields (MEF). Using microalgae biomass as food supplements at its full potential depends on its protein digestibility patterns, and subsequently their bioaccessibility and bioavailability. The importance of using in vitro gastrointestinal systems to understand the impact of innovative downstream processing of microalgae biomass will be addressed.

The brewing industry is regarded as a fiercely competitive and insatiable sector of activity, driven by the significant technological improvements observed in recent years and the most recent consumer trends pointing to a sharp demand for sensory enhanced beers. Some emergent and sustainable technologies regarding food processing such as pulsed electric fields (PEF), ultrasound (US), thermosonication (TS), high-pressure processing (HPP), and ohmic heating (OH) have shown the potential to contribute to the development of currently employed brewing methodologies by both enhancing the quality of beer and contributing to processing efficiency with a promise of being more environmentally friendly. Some of these technologies have not yet found their way into the industrial brewing process but already show potential to be embedded in continuous thermal and non-thermal unit operations such as pasteurization, boiling and sterilization, resulting in beer with improved organoleptic properties. This review article aims to explore the potential of different advanced processing technologies for industrial application in several key stages of brewing, with particular emphasis on continuous beer production.

This study evaluates ohmic heating (OH) technology as an alternative to wort boiling in brewing and its impact on the extraction of key sensory compounds in beer—essential oils, alpha-acids, and polyphenols—from hop pellets. Conventional (C) boiling, performed using a water jacket, served as the control, while OH was applied at three electric field intensity ranges: 4–5 V cm⁻¹ (OH5), 8–11 V cm⁻¹ (OH11) and 22–26 V cm⁻¹ (OH26). OH treatments influenced extraction/reaction kinetics when compared with C boiling, reducing total boiling time to 15 min, demonstrated by the absence of significant differences between the international bitterness units (IBU) of OH5 (86.38 ± 0.72), OH11 (89.21 ± 0.79) and OH26 (90.78 ± 2.83) after 45 min and the IBU of C (91.49 ± 4.98) after 60 min of boiling. Moreover, statistically significant (p < 0.05) higher IBU were observed for all OH conditions compared to C after 30 and 45 min of boiling. Kinetic differences were also observed for polyphenol concentrations, evident after 60 min of boiling, with C standing out with higher values (210.11 ± 6.01 mg L⁻¹) over OH5 (165.97 ± 1.36 mg L⁻¹), OH11 (177.09 ± 8.58 mg L⁻¹) and OH26 (175.48 ± 12.66 mg L⁻¹), suggesting that electric fields contribute to a faster decrease in polyphenol content against C boiling. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of essential oils revealed that longer boils reduce the levels of essential oils in both C- and OH-treated worts. Myrcene and humulene retention is not influenced by the chosen heating method. However, regarding linalool and geraniol, the higher electric field intensities of OH11 and OH26 resulted in a decrease of these essential oils' levels, while C boiling and OH 5 boiling, promoted their retention in the final beer. Results suggest that OH treatments could be employed in brewing as a novel boiling technology. OH promotes uniform and rapid heating, faster bitterness development and increased hop utilization, less haze and astringency, and potential modulation of the hoppy flavours and aromas in beer. OH further demonstrated its potential to reduce processing time and energy consumption, highlighting this technology as a promising and sustainable alternative to conventional boiling methods.