Food processing systematically aims at meeting the needs of consumers who are looking for total high quality and perfect food safety. As the various thermal and non-thermal food preservation technologies often affect the natural properties in terms of sensation, flavor, texture, etc., instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) has been conceived as a relevant, innovative process in this field. DIC uses high saturated steam pressure and short duration to provide a new way to expand biological matrices, improve drying, decontaminate, and extract biologically active compounds, among other attributes. Therefore, this review focuses on describing the applications of DIC technology on a wide range of products such as foods and by-products that have been processed both in the laboratory and on an industrial scale. The application of DIC has shown the possibility of a significant leap in quality improvement and cost reduction in the food industry. DIC reduces the drying time of fruits and vegetables, and improves the extraction of essential oils, vegetable oils, and antioxidant components. It also provides strong decontamination, eliminates vegetative microorganisms and spores, and reduces non-nutritional and allergenic components. Over the past 33 years, this technology has continued to expand its food applications and improve its characteristics on an industrial scale. But there are still many food unit operations that can be taken to the next level with DIC.

Cardamom Essential oils are highly demanded because of their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Nonetheless, retrieving quality extracts quickly with efficient energy savings has been challenging. Therefore, green technologies are emerging as possible alternatives. Thus, this study evaluates the yield and quality of the instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) process coupled with ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of cardamom essential oil (CEO). Likewise, the antioxidant activity, chemical profile of CEO, and microstructure of seeds were analyzed. This study analyzed 13 different treatments with varying saturated steam processing temperatures (SSPT), thermal processing times (TPT), and 1 control. The results showed that CEO yield increased significantly by DIC (140 °C and 30 s) and UAE compared to the control (22.53% vs. 15.6%). DIC 2 (165 °C, 30 s) showed the highest DPPH inhibition (79.48%) and the best Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) by the control with 0.60 uMTE/g. The GC/MS analysis showed 28 volatile constituents, withα-Terpinyl acetate, geranyl oleate, and oleic acid being the most abundant. DIC (140 °C and 30 s) and UAE showed the best yield and chemical profile. The SEM microscopy of untreated seeds revealed collapsed structures before the oil cell layer, which reduced the extraction yield, contrary to DIC-treated seeds, with more porous structures. Therefore, combining innovative extraction methods could solve the drawbacks of traditional extraction methods.

Green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is an outspread spice native to Asia, which is well appreciated for its sensory characteristics, delicate aroma, and unique taste. Currently, the main cardamom extracts are essential oils (EOs), and regarding current market tendencies, this market is in high growth. For this reason, technologies such as the instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) have been applied to reach higher yields and better quality of EO. Then, this study explores the impact of DIC as a pretreatment before hydrodistillation (HD) on the EO yield and their antioxidant activity. Obtained results showed that the coupling of DIC-HD increased the yield of essential oil and also had a positive impact on their antioxidant capacity. The EO yield of DIC-HD (140 °C and 30 s) was 4.43% vs. 2.52% for control; the AOX of DIC-HD (165 °C and 30 s) was 86% inhibition vs. 57.02% for control, and the TEAC of DIC-HD (140 °C and 30 s) was 1.44 uMTE/g EO vs. 13.66 uMTE/g EO.

This study explores the impact of instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) technology on the cardamom FA profile in terms of composition and changes depending on DIC conditions, treatment time, and temperature. Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a spice native to Asia, which is very appreciated for its sensory characteristics, delicate aroma, and unique taste. Cardamom contains Fatty acids (FAs) that can benefit human health. For this reason, technologies such as DIC have been applied to increase FA yields and quality. The results show that the DIC process affects the FA profile of cardamom. The analysis of FAs via GC-MS revealed the presence of 8 fatty acids. Regarding the elements that influence the composition of these primary constituents, it is presumed that a combination of temperature (T) and treatment time (t) shapes their composition. This holds for seven cardamom FAs: palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, elaidic acid, α-Linoleic acid, α-Linolenic acid, and arachidic acid, where a combination of T and t contributes to their composition; in contrast, for myristic acid only the temperature exerts a significant influence. Optimizing the combination of temperature and treatment time can enhance both the yield and quality of fatty acids, suggesting that controlled DIC processing may improve cardamom’s nutritional and sensory attributes.

Ruta chalepensis L. var. angustifolia (Pers.) Willk. (Rutaceae) has been traditionally associated with hypocholesterolemic effects, although the bioactive metabolites responsible for this activity remain largely unknown. This study aimed to fractionate the methanolic extract of R. chalepensis var. angustifolia, identify its major phenolic constituents, and evaluate their inhibitory activity against 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. The methanolic extract was fractionated by open column chromatography, and selected fractions were analyzed by thin layer chromatography and HPLC-DAD. Rutin was identified as one of the major flavonoids, while three chromatographically pure fractions corresponded to unidentified phenolic compounds. Their inhibitory activity was assessed using a commercial HMG-CoA reductase assay. Pravastatin showed 87.5% inhibition and served as the positive control. Among the isolated fractions, one unidentified phenolic fraction exhibited the highest inhibitory activity (66.0%), exceeding that of rutin (45.8%), whereas another fraction showed negligible activity (8.3%). These findings indicate that the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory potential of R. chalepensis var. angustifolia cannot be attributed solely to rutin and suggest the presence of additional bioactive phenolic metabolites. Further structural characterization and mechanistic studies are required to identify the active compound and confirm its hypocholesterolemic potential in biological systems.