INNOVATIVE PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM

Nowadays the producers are looking for innovative solutions able to assure high-quality products but at the same time more healthy and environmentally friendly food products. Food preservation is one of the basic steps in food technology for any type of product. Different classical preservation technologies as drying, sterilization, pasteurization, freezing, chilling, etc. were developed along with food product development in order to preserve food quality and safety. In the last decades novel and innovative preservation technologies were developed being focused not only on the food shelf-life extension but also on the better preservation of nutritional quality of the products and on reducing environmental impact through different mechanisms. Despite the classical methods mainly based on the thermal effect, these new technologies are based on different physical factors using high pressure, electric fields, cold plasma, ultraviolet radiation, or new packaging technologies leading to a more sustainable food system and a better preservation of food nutritional quality. The mechanisms, advantages, and drawbacks of these technologies currently still under investigation for different applications will be outlined in this paper.