Effect of nonthermal technologies on functional food compounds

As the demand for functional food increases, intense research efforts have been devoted to the development of new processing technologies (e.g., pulsed electric fields, ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, and cold plasma, among others) as alternative to the traditional thermal processing to obtain safe products with sensory and nutritional attributes similar to those of fresh product. These technologies allow the sustainable food production by cost and energy reduction, better use of resources, and minimizing waste. Moreover, these technologies generally allow a better retention of functional components and antioxidant properties of foods compared with the traditional thermal treatments.This chapter will discuss the impact of processing conditions of different nonthermal technologies on the sustainability of food processing in relation to extraction and stability of the main functional components in food products. The provided information will be beneficial for further commercialization and exploration of these novel technologies