Ohmic heating (OH) of food has been investigated for many years as an alternative to conventional heating because it allows fast and homogeneous heating. The processing parameters that influence the most uniformity of the heating in OH are the electric field strength and the frequency. Therefore, recent trends have focused on studying the application of frequencies in the order of kHz and electric fields higher than 100 V/cm. In this regard, and considering only the applied field strength in a way to easily differentiate them, three ohmic systems could be distinguished: OH (< 100 V/cm), moderated electric fields (MEF) (100–1000 V/cm), and ohmic-pulsed electric fields (ohmic-PEF) (> 1000 V/cm). The advantages of applying higher electric fields (MEF and ohmic-PEF) over OH are, on the one hand, their much higher heating rate and, on the other hand, their capability to electroporate cells, causing the release of intracellular ionic compounds, and therefore, uniformizing the electrical conductivity of the product. This strategy is especially interesting for large solid foods where conventional heating applications lead to large temperature gradients and quality losses due to surface overtreatment. Therefore, the aim of this work is to review the state of the art of OH technologies, focusing on MEF and ohmic-PEF. The advantages and disadvantages of MEF and ohmic-PEF compared to OH and their potential for improving processes in the food industry are also discussed.

Environmental awareness of the effects of single-use plastic packaging and the shortage of non-renewable resources have encouraged the search for alternative materials. Most of single-use plastic packaging is in the food sector, including bags, straws, bottle lids, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles. Biopolymers and biocomposites have a high potential to be eco-friendly, economic and technically competitive with fossil-based plastics and conventional composites. This paper presents a case study of life-cycle analysis supporting the design and development of a bottle lid as food packaging by applying a life-cycle engineering methodology to select a biocomposite material. Two current materials with high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polylactic acid (PLA) and 10 alternative biocomposite materials of hybrid matrix (mixtures of HDPE and PLA) and contents of banana fibre (BF) were evaluated. The analysis is performed by integrating of life cycle assessment, life cycle cost and technical analysis. The results show that the material with higher BF content is the best alternative both technically and environmentally, while the material with lower BF content is the best alternative economically. Therefore, the importance attributed to each dimension of analysis is pondered and traded-off to allow an aggregated analysis of the alternatives and a well-informed decision-making.

Avocado puree demand grows with the rise in demand for fruit flavors and healthy food consumption. The aim of this research was to produce a minimally processed fruit puree that retain the color during 6 months of frozen storage and assess a preliminary economic and environmental approach for its industrial production. Mashed avocado pulp was mixed with lemon juice for obtaining raw avocado puree. This material was then mixed with citric acid or exposed to a microwave treatment to obtain Citric acid puree (CAP) and microwave-treated puree (MWP). CAP and MWP were submitted to frozen storage (–10 °C, –14 °C and –18 °C), and each 30 days puree samples were tested for Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and Peroxidase (POD) activity and color. While PPO was completely inhibited, POD exhibited sharp reductions, especially for the MWP. Almost all the samples preserved their original color. Economic and environmental impacts were evaluated for a CAP production process.

Açaí is a fruit native to Brazil that is found in Colombia, and it is recognized for containing more than 90 compounds with anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other biological activities. In this study, a cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis (LCA) was conducted for the production of açaí powder, following the methodology outlined in the ISO 14040 standard. The investigation focused on examining the impact of utilizing or not utilizing the residues generated during the pulp extraction step as fertilizers. Four scenarios were analyzed and compared: (i) production of açaí powder via vacuum drying, (ii) via spray drying, and via the same two types of drying but using residues from the pulping operation as fertilizer (Scenarios 3 and 4). It was found that to produce 1 kg of açaí in a crop cycle, 1.17 kg of CO₂ eq is produced. The drying stage in Scenarios 1 and 2 generated 8.04 and 7.93 kg of CO₂ eq, respectively. Similarly, when solid waste is used as fertilizer, CO₂ emissions barely increased for Scenarios 3 and 4, respectively. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first carbon footprint study of the production of açaí powder whit these scenarios.