Impact of High pressure homogenization (HPH) treatment on the nutritional quality of egg/yogurt, vegetable and fruit based creams

The food industry has made large investments in processing facilities relying mostly on conventional thermal processing technologies with well-established reliability and efficacy. These techniques have important disadvantages such as off flavors, destruction of nutrients, and other losses of product quality. Non thermal processing is a key factor for preserving or improving the nutritional value of food, and high pressure homogenization (HPH) processing is now a celebrated option experiencing worldwide commercial growth. Notwithstanding, little is known on the impact of HPH treatments on the nutritional value of food. In this study we have evaluated the possible modification induced by HPH treatment in egg-yogurt, mixed vegetable, and mixed fruit creams. Our results evidence that HPH does not affect the nutritional quality of lipids and does not cause lipolysis, lipid peroxidation and vitamin E loss. In plant food products, HPH preserved or improved the nutritional quality, suggesting its use as valid alternative to thermal pasteurization for obtaining high quality products with preserved nutritional characteristics. Although further investigations are needed, especially at extreme pressure and temperature combinations, our results open new perspectives for the production of ambient stable products with good nutritional value, and contribute to process optimization.