Application of HPP in food fermentation processes

Abstract High pressure processing (HPP) is widely used in the food industry for nonthermal pasteurization of juices, ready-to-eat meals, dairy products, pet food, etc. The pasteurization effect is induced by damaging the membranes of microorganisms (leading to cell lysis) as well as by protein denaturation, thus interrupting cellular functions such as nutrient uptake, DNA replication, etc. Nevertheless, as a thermodynamic variable, pressure can also be used to enhance the fermentative processes if applied at sublethal levels (up to 50/60 MPa) to induce metabolic shifts in microorganisms, This allows accelerating the fermentative processes or even obtaining different compounds resulting from…