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Impact of Pulsed Light on Food Constituents

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Effect of Emerging Processing Methods on the Food Quality

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Abstract

As one of the emerging non-thermal food treatment technologies, pulsed light (PL) has been intensively studied since the twenty first century. PL technology uses intermittent light pulses to treat food products without leaving any residues. The current use of PL technology is for decontamination purposes. The decontamination effects of PL treatment rely on primarily light with the different wavelength and the pulsed energy. Therefore, this chapter starts by explaining the disinfection mechanism of PL technology, where analysis of the UV disinfection mechanism would be helpful. Unlike electron beam, X-rays, and gamma rays, UV light is non-ionizing irradiation and does not break molecular bonds. The UV light can be emitted either as a continuous wave (continuous light) or in short duration pulses of 1–20 per second as in the case of pulsed light. Continuous UV light may be categorized into three types according to the emission spectrum: (1) short-wave UV (UV-C) with wavelengths from 200 to 280 nm, (2) medium-wave UV (UV-B) with wavelengths from 280 to 320 nm, and (3) long-wave UV (UV-A) with wavelengths from 320 to 400 nm. UV-C has been used for disinfection of air, surface, water, and liquid foods. The mechanisms responsible for microbial inactivation by UV light are believed to be due to the photochemical, photothermal and photophysical effects on microbes exposed to UV light.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Peng Peng, Paul Chen, Dongjie Chen, Min Addy, Yanling Cheng, Nan Zhou, Charles Schiappacasse, Yaning Zhang, Erik Anderson, Juer Liu, Yiwei Ma & Roger Ruan

  2. The Harbin Institute of Technology, Haerbin Shi, Heilongjiang Sheng, China

    Yaning Zhang

  3. Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

    Roger Ruan

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  1. Peng Peng
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  2. Paul Chen
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  3. Dongjie Chen
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  4. Min Addy
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  5. Yanling Cheng
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  6. Nan Zhou
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  10. Juer Liu
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  12. Roger Ruan
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Correspondence to Roger Ruan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Shahin Roohinejad

  2. Ecole Supérieure de Chimie Organique et Minérale, 1 Allée du réseau Jean-Marie Buckmaster, Compiègne, France

    Mohamed Koubaa

  3. Department of Food Technology and Bioprocess Engineering, Max Rubner-Institut Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Ralf Greiner

  4. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Kumar Mallikarjunan

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Peng, P. et al. (2019). Impact of Pulsed Light on Food Constituents. In: Roohinejad, S., Koubaa, M., Greiner, R., Mallikarjunan, K. (eds) Effect of Emerging Processing Methods on the Food Quality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18191-8_5

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