Electric field-based technologies offer interesting perspectives which include controlled heat dissipation (via the ohmic heating effect) and the influence of electrical variables (e.g., electroporation). These factors collectively provide an opportunity to modify the functional and technological properties of numerous food proteins, including ones from emergent plant- and microbial-based sources. Currently, numerous scientific studies are underway, contributing to the emerging body of knowledge about the effects on protein properties. In this review, “Electric Field Processing” acknowledges the broader range of technologies that fall under the umbrella of using the direct passage of electrical current in food material, giving particular focus to the ones that are industrially implemented. The structural and biological effects of electric field processing (thermal and non-thermal) on protein fractions from various sources will be addressed. For a more comprehensive contextualization of the significance of these effects, both conventional and alternative protein sources, along with their respective ingredients, will be introduced initially.

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.

Plant-derived proteins have been growing in interest for the design of innovative foods and ingredients following the trend of animal protein substitution. These proteins display interesting functional properties, including emulsifying, foaming, and gelling capacity. Unfortunately, commercially available plant protein ingredients often present limited functionality due to the modifications induced during production. In this study, ohmic heating (OH) was evaluated as a physical modification strategy to enhance the functionality of commercial pea protein (PP). PP dispersions were subjected to OH at 100 °C, 130 °C, and 150 °C, and their physicochemical, foaming, emulsifying, and gelling properties were assessed. OH processing significantly reduced mean particle size, with the surface-area weighted diameter (D(3,2)) decreasing from approximately 76.1 µm in untreated PP to 56.5, 31.1, and 10.6 µm after OH at 100, 130, and 150 °C, respectively. These structural changes resulted in a clear improvement in foaming performance, with foaming capacity increasing by approximately 40% compared to the control, while all foams remained stable for at least 60 min. In contrast, emulsifying activity showed no substantial enhancement. Cold-set gels prepared from OH-treated PP exhibited significantly altered rheological behavior, characterized by lower complex modulus values (G* ≈ 0.8–5.4 kPa at 1 Hz) compared to the untreated PP gel (≈25.2 kPa), indicating the formation of softer yet more homogeneous gel networks. Overall, the results demonstrate that OH is an effective tool to tailor the functional properties of commercial pea protein, particularly by enhancing foaming performance and modulating gel structure, supporting its potential application in the development of novel plant-based food products.