Ferraz Lucas Previtali, Silva Eric Keven
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA), Rua Monteiro Lobato, 80, Campinas, São Paulo CEP 13083-862, Brazil.
ACS Omega. 2025 May 13;10(20):20277-20285. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c11498. eCollection 2025 May 27.
This study provides a practical guide for determining acoustic power, the actual energy delivered during high-intensity ultrasound (HIUS) processing, which is critical for the effective design of ultrasound-assisted processes. Acoustic energy is fundamental for ensuring precise process scaling and optimization. Additionally, we address a key misconception in the literature, challenging the view that HIUS is a strictly nonthermal treatment. While HIUS has been widely explored for enhancing process efficiency, reducing energy consumption, lowering costs, and minimizing environmental impact in food and beverage processing, its thermal effects have often been overlooked. HIUS is employed in various applications, including the extraction of bioactive compounds, inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes, and modification of proteins and carbohydrates. However, one of the primary challenges in HIUS processing is temperature control, which is essential for maintaining food stability, quality, and safety. Uncontrolled temperature increases can jeopardize these attributes. In this study, we assessed actual temperature conditions during HIUS treatments by analyzing thermal histories and investigating strategies for minimizing heat generation, such as pulsed ultrasound, ice baths, and combining sonication with external heating. We also evaluated the temperature profiles in fluids with varying thermophysical properties. While heat minimization techniques are effective in mitigating excessive heating, failure to account for thermal histories can lead to underestimations of the thermal effects. Accurate temperature monitoring provides critical insights into optimizing process design. Moreover, we observed potential solvent phase changes at the microscale during high-intensity treatments. These findings offer valuable guidance for improving heat management in HIUS applications and propose standardized methods for reporting thermal conditions and energy parameters in studies that utilize this technology.
本研究为确定声功率提供了实用指南，声功率是高强度超声（HIUS）处理过程中实际传递的能量，对于超声辅助工艺的有效设计至关重要。声能是确保精确工艺放大和优化的基础。此外，我们解决了文献中的一个关键误解，对HIUS是一种严格的非热处理这一观点提出了挑战。虽然HIUS已被广泛用于提高食品和饮料加工中的工艺效率、降低能耗、降低成本以及最小化环境影响，但其热效应常常被忽视。HIUS应用于各种领域，包括生物活性化合物的提取、微生物和酶的灭活以及蛋白质和碳水化合物的改性。然而，HIUS处理中的主要挑战之一是温度控制，这对于维持食品的稳定性、质量和安全性至关重要。不受控制的温度升高会危及这些特性。在本研究中，我们通过分析热历史并研究最小化热生成的策略，如脉冲超声、冰浴以及将超声处理与外部加热相结合，来评估HIUS处理过程中的实际温度条件。我们还评估了具有不同热物理性质的流体中的温度分布。虽然热最小化技术在减轻过度加热方面有效，但不考虑热历史可能导致对热效应的低估。准确的温度监测为优化工艺设计提供了关键见解。此外，我们在高强度处理过程中观察到了微观尺度上潜在的溶剂相变。这些发现为改善HIUS应用中的热管理提供了有价值的指导，并为在利用该技术的研究中报告热条件和能量参数提出了标准化方法。
