Ultraviolet light for food and beverage preservation. Exploring the latest advancements and potential challenges ahead

Abstract

Traditional thermal treatments for food pasteurization representwell-established preservation techniques commonly employed to eliminatepathogenic microorganisms and reduce the presence of spoilage agents.Their primary objectives include ensuring product safety and extendingthe shelf life of treated food items. These methods typically involve theapplication of high temperatures, ranging from 56_C to 138_C, for shortperiods, often just seconds or minutes. Temperature selection variesaccording to product type and country regulation. However, it’s importantto note that conventional pasteurization processes often lead to undesirablechanges in both sensory attributes and nutritional composition.While intense heat treatment is beneficial from a microbiological perspective,the use of extremely high temperatures can negatively impact the flavor,taste, and nutritional value of the food and beverages involved.Consequently, the exploration of alternative methods becomes imperativeto preserve the original freshness and authenticity of food products andbeverages, while also meeting consumer demands (Hii et al., 2023).In this regard, consumer awareness of food and beverages processedusing gentle and environmentally friendly technologies is steadily growing.“Redefining value” has been identified as the first top trend in a recent international study on the ten leading product launch trends for2023. This result is connected to the fact that consumers are increasinglyseeking brands that offer quality, trust, and confidence through their productformulations, communications, and broader sustainability efforts(Innova Market Insight, 2023). People are getting more connected andknowledgeable about food and health choices in today’s globalized society,which is another important element. There is a growing recognitionof the value of foods processed gently and formulated with reduced levelsof fats, salt, sugar, and chemicals. All these consumer-driven innovationsare placing industry and academia under scrutiny, requiring them to meetthese expectations by developing safe and higher-quality products. Overthe past two decades, they have been collaborating to develop and implementinnovative nonthermal processing technologies, with the primarygoal of replacing the conventional thermal treatments commonly appliedto food and beverages. Additionally, the increasing concern for evidentenvironmental changes is prompting industries to consider the adoption ofgreen technologies that have a positive impact on the planet (Bang et al.,2017). However, global market demands dictate that the satisfaction ofthese two trends—sustainability and the demand for fresh-like quality products—must align with competitive prices. Another factor influencingconsumer elections is the global economic crisis, which began in 2019with the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) and hasbeen exacerbated by different wars since February 2022. This fact has ledto a noticeable increase in food prices. Developed countries, unaccustomedto this phenomenon, are now seeking more competitive priceswithout compromising the nutritional quality of food and environmentalsafety. In this context, green and low-cost technologies are gainingincreasing interest from the food industry.In the past 20 years, a variety of minimally processed interventiontechnologies have been developed to help produce food products ofimproved quality and/or environmentally friendly technologies. Thenotion of minimal processing offers a wide range of options for highqualityproducts. When compared to traditional heat treatments, its applicationsuggests a higher retention of the product’s flavor, texture, color,and nutritional value (Zhang et al., 2019). Just a small number of thesecutting-edge technologies are thought to have already arisen, reached thecommercialization stage, and met the requirements for both, technical andeconomic viability. One such example is the increasing number of commercialprocessors available in the food and beverage industry and in use all over the world that use high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) (Putnik et al.,2020). Other approaches, such as those based on the use of light(Guerrero et al., 2021), are currently regarded as “emerging,” with theexception of the application of UV-C for water and clear liquid foods disinfection,with a status of emerged, with a significant number of commercialdevices in the market (Koutchma, 2019). Technologies whoseconcept and inactivation mechanism have been documented for a rangeof food systems and devices, mostly on a laboratory scale, fall into thethird group. Some technologies are still regarded as being at a less developedstage, such as radio frequency (Xu et al., 2023), cold plasma (Panet al., 2019), and high-intensity ultrasound (Guerrero et al., 2017).Short-wave ultraviolet light (UV-C, 254 nm) has shown growing valueas one substitute nonthermal technique for food preservation. When UV-Cis applied to a given food system, a series of photochemical reactions takeplace that ultimately result in the inactivation of microorganisms. It is interestingto note that this technology uses less energy and possesses lower costs ofinstallation, operation, and maintenance than other emerging technologieslike HHP or pulsed electric fields (PEF) (Delorme et al., 2020).UV-C employs low energy levels in the 200_280 nm spectral range,reaching a peak at 253.7 nm, the primary output wavelength of a lowpressureUV lamp (Bolton, 2020). Compared to HPP, the current counterparttechnique, additional advantages include, the smaller space requirementwith the possibility of in-line installation, greater effectivenessagainst spores in low acid beverages when combined with other emergingor traditional stress factors, no limitations on packaging materials (whileglass containers are not allowed in HPP processing), batch as well as continuousoperation processing (HPP only admits batch operations) and thepossibility of filling operation after treatment, which facilitates the inlineintegration process (filling of the containers proceed before HPP treatment)(Koutchma, 2019). Regarding UV-C applications, significantadvancements have been reached, such as system validation and the developmentof a variety of laboratory and pilot-scale devices as well as a continuousincrease in knowledge regarding its effects on productcomponents as well as the expected microbial response. Furthermore, theversatility and the wide applicability field of UV-C technology gave concretesolutions in certain global events have created new challenges, suchas obtaining safe drinking water in war-affected areas in Ukraine in 2022.The destruction of infrastructure and the absence of electricity has leftUkrainian citizens with limited water sources, such as lakes, rivers, or old wells, which may contain impurities and potentially harmful pathogens.In this matter, the use of germicidal ultraviolet light generated by lightemittingdiodes (LEDs): UVC LED has arisen as an interesting solution, asseveral companies with innovative and compact UVC LED reactors todisinfect water and sent many units to be used in Ukraine. Furthermore, amobile UVC LED water disinfection system for individuals and smallgroups of civilians was developed right there in Ukraine, which consists ofthree filters (mechanical_carbon_mechanical), a UVC LED system and apower supply unit. This unit delivers UV fluence of 22 mJ/cm2 in a laminarflow regime and some primary tests have validated its efficacy againstIrpin River microbiota.