Applications of Ultrasound in the Beverage Industry

Ultrasound is regarded as an emerging and promising technology in industrial food processing. In recent years, several applications of ultrasound in relation to the production of beverages, mainly wines and juices, have been assayed at a laboratory scale. To be specific, ultrasound has been used for enhancing heat transfer, detection of microbial contamination, reducing membrane fouling in beverage clarification, inactivation of microorganisms, equipment cleaning, process monitoring, assisted extraction, and accelerating reactions within beverages. Many of its uses are still being researched. With regard to the latter one, some researchers have focused their attention on accelerating wine aging through ultrasound in order to bring about the same effects as natural ageing on wine in a very short period. Besides, since the beverage industry produces a million tons of byproducts per year, which represents a major disposal problem, ultrasound can be applied as an innovating and green extraction technology to recover bioactive compounds from fruit beverage-derived byproducts. This book presents an overview of the current applications of ultrasound in beverage industries. The most recent developments are discussed and future prospects for research in this field are explored. Finally, the mechanism of microbial disinfection, available ultrasound reactor designs and guidelines for important operating parameters are also discussed.