Emerging applications of ultrasonication and cavitation in dairy industry: a review

In recent years, there has been emerging trends and gaining popularity of researching, exploring and applying the physical and chemical effects of ultrasonication and cavitation in dairy industry. An overview of ultrasonication and other cavitation techniques is provided here. Effect of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and high energy low-frequency ultrasonication on milk components such as fat, protein, and other milk constituents have been highlighted here. Detailed summary of various research studies and applications of the HC and ultrasonication in dairy processing area such as homogenization, viscosity reduction, cheese, cream and yogurt making, food safety, microbial inactivation, waste management, and cleaning are provided here. Furthermore, various research and application of low-intensity high-frequency ultrasound for dairy products analysis have been outlined here. While some applications of ultrasound and cavitation are well established in other industry, the ultrasonic and HC processing of dairy ingredients and products are gaining much attention recently and it has a great potential to become a mainstream process in dairy industry in the near future.