Inactivation of microorganisms in foods by electric field processing: A review

The inactivation of microorganisms is critical for ensuring the safety of food products. Currently, emerging electrotechnologies have attracted considerable attention. These non-conventional technologies for food processing rely on thermal effects, non-thermal effects, or a combination of them to achieve this goal. Conventional pasteurization requires a heat transfer medium. It is often performed at high temperatures, leadinging to food quality degradation and flavour distortion. Electrotechnologies contain ohmic heating (OH), pulsed electric field (PEF), and induced electric field (IEF) treatment, which utilize both electric potential difference and current. Compared to conventional heating, they can reduce inactivation temperature thresholds and duration while retaining nutritional value, having a minimal negative impact on food quality, flavor, and color. Since the main purpose of food processing is based on microorganism inactivation to ensure food safety and storability, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the current application of electric field technologies. This paper reviews the research progress on the inactivation of microorganisms by OH, PEF, and IEF treatment. Additionally, it presents the generation characteristics of electrotechnologies and an outlook on future development.