Interest in high homogenization pressure technology has grown over the years. It is a green technology with low energy consumption that does not generate high CO₂ emissions or polluting effluents. Its main food applications derive from its effect on particle size, causing a more homogeneous distribution of fluid elements (particles, globules, droplets, aggregates, etc.) and favoring the release of intracellular components, and from its effect on the structure and configuration of chemical components such as polyphenols and macromolecules such as carbohydrates (fibers) and proteins (also microorganisms and enzymes). The challenges of the 21st century are leading the processed food industry towards the creation of food of high nutritional quality and the use of waste to obtain ingredients with specific properties. For this purpose, soft and nonthermal technologies such as high pressure homogenization have huge potential. The objective of this work is to review how the need to combine safety, functionality and sustainability in the food industry has conditioned the application of high-pressure homogenization technology in the last decade.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of lulo juice as substrate for producing a potentially probiotic beverage with Lactobacillus reuteri CECT 925. Lulo juices at two pH levels and two levels of HPH treatment have been considered to evaluate the effect of these variables on Lactobacillus reuteri CECT 925 growth, physicochemical and antioxidant properties, and the resistance of microbial cells to gastrointestinal digestion in vitro. Regarding the growth of Lactobacillus reuteri CECT 925, it was mainly affected by the pH of the medium, the rectified juice at pH 5.5 being the most appropriated one. The growth of Lactobacillus reuteri CECT 925 mainly increased the antiradical capacity of the juices. In general, Lactobacillus reuteri CECT 925 showed good resistance to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion conditions, reaching levels above 10⁷ CFU/mL in all cases. The highest resistance was observed in the juice treated at 150 MPa followed by the juice homogenized at 100 MPa.