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High Hydrostatic Processing Pressure in Cheese
High Hydrostatic Processing Pressure in Cheese
Yamile Mart nez-Rodr guez, Carlos Acosta-Mu niz, Guadalupe I. Olivas, Jos e Guerrero-Beltr an, Dolores Rodrigo-Aliaga, and David R. Sep ulveda Abstract: High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is a cutting-edge processing technology attracting research and industrial interest in the food sector due to its potential to produce microbiologically safe products, modify the functional properties of proteins and polysaccharides, and alter biochemical reactions without signicantly affecting the nutritional and sensory properties of food. Currently, there are only a limited number of pressure-treated cheese products available in the market. Nevertheless, results from numerous research studies on various cheese varieties seem promising, especially since HHP technology is today more cost-effective than in the past. Considering the progress made in the application of HHP on cheese during the past 15 years, this paper reviews the direct application of HHP treatments to cheese and the effects it has on its microbiology and ripening process, as well as on quality parameters such as physicochemical, rheological, and sensory properties. Detailed information of published studies is presented with the aim of providing a clear picture of the use of this technology on cheese processing. Areas of research in need of more attention are also identied.
Introduction
Consumer demand for more natural, preservative-free, tastier, and more wholesome foods has led to the search of improved food processing technologies. Many research studies over the years have shown that high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) technology is capable of producing microbiologically safe products, with additional advantages for consumers and food processors over thermal processing. Unlike thermal pasteurization, HHP can maintain key quality attributes such as food freshness, nutritional value, and sensory properties because it only affects noncovalent bonds, thus amino acids, vitamins, avor molecules, and other low-molecularweight compounds remain unaffected. Furthermore, HHP can lower production costs due to energy savings (Toep and others 2006; Pereira and Vicente 2010), reduced processing times (Serrano and others 2004), and fewer handling steps (Serrano and others 2005), and modify the functional properties of proteins and polysaccharides, which could lead to the development of novel or improved products. The industrial use of HHP in different food sectors around the world has risen from 1 in 1990 to 130 in 2009, making acquisition costs more accessible as demand increases (Purroy 2009). Based on the isostatic principle, pressure applied in HHP treatments is instantaneously and uniformly transmitted throughout the food, regardless of size, shape, and composition. In cheese manMS 20120087 Submitted 1/16/2012, Accepted 3/18/2012. Authors Mart nezRodr guez, Acosta-Mu niz, Olivas, and Sep ulveda are with Centro de Investigaci on en Alimentaci on y Desarrollo A.C., Unidad Cuauht emoc, Av. Rio Conchos S/N, Parque Industrial. C. P. 31570, Apartado Postal 781, Cd. Cuauht emoc, Chihuahua, M exico. Author Guerrero-Beltr an is with Univ. de las Am ericas Puebla, Sta. Catarina M artir, Cholula, Puebla, C.P. 72810, M exico. Author Rodrigo-Aliaga is with Instituto de Agroqu mica y Tecnolog a de Alimentos, CSIC, Apartado Postal 73, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Espa na. Direct inquiries to author Sep ulveda (E-mail: dsepulveda@ciad.mx).
ufacturing, the application of HHP initially focused on pressuretreating milk and making cheese therefrom, resulting in microorganism inactivation, reduced rennet coagulation time, and increased cheese yield, which many research groups have reviewed (Trujillo and others 2000a, 2002; OReilly and others 2001; Huppertz and others 2002; L opez-Fandi no 2006; San Mart nGonz alez and others 2006). However, more recently, researchers have applied HHP directly to the pressed curd and/or ripened cheese, and studies have centered on 2 main areas: cheese preservation and modication of the ripening process. Pressures applied from 200 to 800 MPa have shown the ability to inactivate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms present in cheese, whereas a combination of low-pressure treatments followed by high pressure treatments has been employed with some degree of success for the inactivation of bacterial spores in cheese. The effect of HHP on the ripening process has produced varied results in different cheese varieties studied and in their physicochemical and sensory characteristics, resulting sometimes in ripening acceleration and with some others in deceleration. This review takes into account all the studies that have been conducted in the past decade dealing with HHP processing of pressed curds and/or cheese, as well as pertinent results and integrates and critically discusses the most relevant aspects regarding this topic.
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Table 1Effect of HHP treatments on vegetative forms and microbial spores in cheese.
Microorganism Cheese Moment of application Treatment conditions Initial counts Inactivation (log10 cfu/g) (log10 cfu/g) Reference evaluated variety (days of ripening) P (MPa)/ t (min)/T ( C) E. coli CECT 405 Mat o 1 400500/515/2, 10 and 25 8 CIa Capellas and others 1996 E. coli K-12 Cheddar cheese slurry 1 400/20/30 7 CI OReilly and others 2000a E. coli K-12 Cheddar (raw milk cheese) 1 350/5/50 6.5 CI Shao and others 2007 c E. coli O157:H7 Raw milk cheese 2 or 50 500/5/10 5.11 (control d 60) CI (d 60) Rodr guez and others 2005 E. coli O59:H21 and O157:H7 Washed-curd 1 500/10/20 About 7 CI De Lamo-Castellv and others 2006 S. aureus ATCC 6538 Cheddar cheese slurry 1 600/20/20 7 CI OReilly and others 2000a S. aureus CECT 976 Raw milk cheese 50 500/5/10 5.30 (control d 60) CI (d 60) Arqu es and others 2005a S. aureus CECT 4013 and ATCC 13565 Washed-curd 1 500/10/5 7.5 6 and 4.7 (d 30) L opez-Pedemonte and others 2007b S. carnosus CECT 4491 Mat o 1 500/5/50 8 7 Capellas and others 2000 Coagulase-positive staphylococci Swiss cheese slurry 1 345 or 550/10, or 30/25 3.3 CI Ding and others 2001 Coagulase-positive staphylococci La Serena (raw milk cheese) 2 300400/10/10 3.07 (control d 30) CI (d 30) Arqu es and others 2006 L. monocytogenes F13 Sainte-Maure de Touraine 14 500/5/11 About 7 5.6 Gallot-Lavall ee 1998 L. monocytogenes (serotype 1/2a) Gorgonzola cheese rind 1 700/15/30 7 5 Carminiati and others 2004 L. monocytogenes Scott A Raw milk cheese 50 300/10/10 5.66 (control d 60) CI (d 60) Arqu es and others 2005b L. monocytogenes ATCC 19115 and Washed-curd 1 500/10/5, or 20 7.5 about 5 (both strains d 30) L opez-Pedemonte and others 2007a Scott A L. monocytogenes ATCC 19115 Turkish white-brined 1 600/10/25 7.5 4.9 Evrendilek and others 2008 Y. enterocolitica O:1, O:3 and O:8 Washed-curd 1 400500/10/20 4.36, 6.03, and 5.28 CI De Lamo-Castellv and others 2005 S. Enteritidis CECT 4300 and Washed-curd 1 400/10/25 6.45 and 6.03 CI De Lamo-Castellv and others 2007 S. Typhimurium CECT 443 Mesophilic and thermophilic LAB Hisp anico (raw milk cheese) 1 500/10/8 8.38 and 6.45 2.1 and 1.9 Alonso and others 2011 Lactic fermentation streptococci Edam 8 wkb 400/120/25 9.41 5.06 Reps and others 2009 Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria Lactococcus spp. Turkish white-brined 1 1600/10/25 7.9, 8.3, and 7.6 5.2, 5.5, and 4.7 Evrendilek and others 2008 Lactobacillus spp. Lactococcus lactis (227 and 303) Cheddar 1 400/20/25 6.24 and 9.75 2.8 and 3.1 OReilly and others 2002a Starter and nonstarter LAB Swiss cheese slurry 1 500/30/25 7.7 and 4 1.7 and CI Ding and others 2001 P. roqueforti IMI 297987 spores Cheddar cheese slurry 1 500/20/20 6 CI OReilly and others 2000a B. subtilis CECT 4491 spores Mat o 1 60/210/40500/15/40 About 5 (in milk) 4.9 Capellas and others 2000 B. cereus ATCC 9139 spores Washed-curd (raw milk cheese) 1 60/210/30400/15/30 6 2 L opez-Pedemonte and others 2003
Process conditions Like any other food preservation technology, in HHP processing, increasing the intensity of treatments or extending their length of exposure will lead to an increased microbial inactivation rate. Nevertheless, there is a minimum critical pressure below which microbial inactivation by pressure will not occur irrespective of process time. Ding and others (2001) observed that higher pressure conditions (345 and 550 MPa) and longer exposure times (10 and 30 min) achieved a greater reduction in numbers of undesirable bacteria in the natural microora of Swiss cheese slurries (coliforms, presumptive coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, yeasts, and molds) and in starter LAB added to milk for acid production and avor development. Fonberg-Broczek and others (2005) found that A. hydrophila strains (Pa nstwowy Instytut Weterynaryjny N.98, Pa nstwowy Inspekcja Sanitarna N. 98, Inspekcja Sanitarna N. 95) in samples of Gouda cheese treated at 100 MPa and 50 C had a D-value of 32.05 min, while at 200 MPa the D-value fell to 12.97 min, and to 2.43 min when subjected to 300 MPa. More recently, in raw milk Cheddar cheese, an increase in pressure intensity from 250 to 350 MPa applied at 25 C resulted in a decrease of D-values from 23.5 to 1.4 min for L. monocytogenes Scott A (Shao and others 2007). L opez-Pedemonte and others (2007b) studied the efcacy of HHP treatments on the inactivation of S. aureus CECT4013 and ATCC13565 in washed-curd cheese and the presence of staphylococcus enterotoxin (SE) A (articially inoculated) only in cheese containing ATCC13565. Inactivation of S. aureus increased as pressure increased from 300 to 500 MPa. However, all cheese samples still contained SE, but it was not clear if it retained its toxic activity or not. No other research group has addressed the impact of HHP on bacterial toxins in cheese. SEs are relatively heat-resistant, with D-values at 121 C for SE A, B, and C ranging from 8.3 to 34 min (Tibana and others 1987). Margosch and others (2005) studied the effect of HHP and heat on several bacterial toxins in buffer and reported that pressurization (0.1 to 800 MPa for 30 to 120 min) of SE A-E at 5 and 20 C caused no observable effect. A combined heat (80 C) and pressure (0.1 to 800 MPa) treatment led to a decrease in the immunoreactivity to 20% of its maximum. The high barotolerance of SEs is clear from the information provided by this study. Temperature including adiabatic heating in HHP processing can have a signicant effect on microbial survival. Adiabatic heating is approximately 3 C for every 100 MPa, depending on the food composition (Farkas and Hoover 2000). A greater antimicrobial impact can be achieved with moderate pressure treatments and shorter pressure holding times when combining high temperatures with HHP treatments. However, the use of high temperatures could lead to undesirable effects in certain cheese quality parameters. Capellas and others (2000) noticed that S. carnosus 4491 CECT counts in Mat o cheese could not be greatly decreased with pressure treatments at 500 MPa for 30 min at 10 or 25 C, whereas treatments at 50 C for 5 min achieved a 7 log cycle reduction. However, treatments at 50 C caused high whey losses and unacceptable textural characteristics. Shao and others (2007) evaluated the effect of HHP treatments at 350 MPa for 5 min at 10 to 50 C on E. coli K-12 inactivation in raw milk Cheddar cheese. They also determined pressure destruction kinetics at 200 to
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300 MPa at 25 C. The authors reported that inactivation of E. coli became more signicant as the temperature applied in HHP treatments increased above 40 C. The D-value at 300 MPa was of 4.4 min. OReilly and others (2000a) also observed that reduction in total viable numbers of E. coli K-12 in Cheddar cheese slurry increased in parallel with the increase of temperature in pressure treatments above 300 MPa. However, the D-value at 300 MPa evaluated at 20 C widely differed from that indicated by Shao and others, being 22 min. Differences between studies could be related to the temperatures used in the experiments, which were 5 C higher in Cheddar cheese than in slurry. Another plausible explanation may lie in the cheese matrix, with E. coli more sensitive to pressure in cheese than in slurry as a result of acid injury to the bacteria during fermentation (OReilly and others 2000a).
bacteria in cheese follow the order: S. aureus > L. monocytogenes > E. coli > A. hydrophila > Y. enterocolitica > S. enterica > yeasts, and molds. HHP treatments can achieve complete inactivation of microorganisms in some cases. However, upon prolonged storage injured cells may recover. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct shelf-life studies over a period of time to ensure microbial safety. Generally speaking, HHP treatments will cause a higher microbial inactivation rate in cheese with higher aw and lower pH value. Additionally, the effectiveness of pressure treatments is greater when applied at more advanced stages of ripening, which also guarantees safety in cheese contaminated postpasteurization. In certain cheese varieties, for example, fresh cheese, the use of high temperatures (above 40 C) in HHP treatments could result in high whey losses and unacceptable textural characteristics. The combined effect between HHP treatments and bacteriocin-producing LAB is synergistic, enhancing the rate of microbial inactivation as compared to HHP treatments alone. An area of research that needs more attention is the effect of HHP on the inactivation of bacterial toxins. The pH of the system affects the susceptibility of enterotoxins to thermal inactivation (Erikson 2003). Hence, strategies such as low pH values combined with HHP treatments should be investigated.
Germination treatments of 60 MPa at 25 C for 210 min, followed by inactivation treatments of 500 MPa at 25 C for 15 min, caused a lethality of 2.7 log cycles of B. subtilis 4491 CECT spores in Mat o cheese that started with an initial concentration of around 5 log cfu/mL in pasteurized milk prior to cheese making (Capellas and others 2000). The same combination of treatments applied at 40 C caused a 4.9 log cycle reduction. Under similar conditions (60 MPa during 210 min at 30 C, followed by 500 MPa for 5 min at 30 C), L opez and others (2003) reported a 2 log cycle reduction of B. cereus ATCC 9139 spores (initial count of 6 log cfu/g) after 15 d of HHP treatments in washed-curd cheese. Additionally, the same research group assessed the effect of pressure combined with the addition of nisin or lysozyme to cheese (L opez-Pedemonte and others 2003). The highest inactivation rate achieved was 2.4 log cycle reductions at a germination cycle of 60 MPa at 30 C for 210 min, followed by a destruction cycle of 400 MPa at 30 C for 15 min with the presence of nisin (1.56 mg/L of milk). It is clear from the few studies presented in this section that this area of research needs attention in order to gain a better understanding of what factors could help enhance the inactivation of microbial spores in cheese. Black and others (2011) stated that the problems with the use of cycle treatments are super-dormancy and inability to achieve 100% germination, which leads to low inactivation rates. The use of high temperatures (above 40 C) in HHP treatments leads to higher spore inactivation rates as demonstrated by Capellas and others (2000). However, as previously mentioned, it may cause negative impacts on other cheese quality attributes. To avoid the use of high temperatures, the combination of 1 or more hurdles with HHP such as bacteriocin-producing LAB or low pH values should be assessed.
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Table 3Effect of HHP treatments on the ripening process of different cheese varieties. Treatment conditions P (MPa)/t (min, hd )/T ( C) Effects Yokoyama and others 1992 OReilly and others 2000b OReilly and others 2003 Reference 50/72 h/25 50/72 h/25 70400/3.581.5 h/25
Moment of application
After salting
Cheddar
2, 7, 14, or 21 da
Cheddar
1d
Cheddar 0.1500/4 h/5 50/8 h/20 400600/10/20 50 or 500/20100/14 200 or 400/30/25 50 or 100/0.5 h/18 400/520/212 5 400/5/14 followed by 50/72 h/14 200500/10/12 400/5/10 300 or 400/10/10
1 or 4 mob 200800/5/25
Wick and others 2004 Kolakowski and others 1998 Messens and others 2000, 2001 Voigt and others 2010
5 or 10 d 2d
Blue-veined
42 d
Gouda
After brining, 5 or 10 d
Edam
Similar taste and FAAe content of a 6 mo-old commercial cheese obtained in 3 d (Cheddar: 26.5 mg/g, Parmensan: 76.7 mg/g). Faster s1 -casein hydrolysis and accumulation of s1 -I-casein. Increased pH 4.6 SNf /TNg and FAA levels. Maximum accumulation of s1 -I-casein at 100 MPa and greatest increase in levels of pH 4.6 SN/TN below150 MPa. Total FAA decreased as pressure increased. Ripening deceleration at pressure treatments 400 MPa. Most intense proteolysis at 50 MPa on d 10. Accelerated proteolysis due to increased enzyme activity and weakening of hydrophobic interactions. Accelerated breakdown of - and s2 -casein and increased levels of PTAh SN/TN. No changes in pH 4.6 SN, PTA SN/TN, FAA content and SDS-PAGE proles. No changes in different fractions of nitrogen compounds. No effect on the extent of casein degradation, pH 4.6 SN/TN and total levels of FAA.
Kolakowski and others 1998; Messens and others 1999 Iwa nczak and Wi sniewska 2005;
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Wachowska 2010 Johnston and Darcy 2000; OReilly and others 2002b; Sheehan and others 2005 Saldo and others 2000 Juan and others 2007a; Juan and others 2008 vila and others 2006 A Garde and others 2007 Ripening period reduced from 28 to 14 d. Increased peptidolytic activity and highest amount of FAA at 300 MPa applied on d 1. Treatments of 500 MPa decelerated primary proteolysis. Accelerated casein hydrolysis and increased total FAA content. Levels of proteolysis were higher when HHP treatments were applied at 400 MPa on d 2 compared to other treatments. 400/5/14 200500/10/12 Saldo and others 2003 Juan and others 2007b 400/5/10 400/10/25 400600/10/20 400/10/25 vila and others 2007 A Rynne and others 2008 Voigt and others 2010 Concentration of total lactate in HHP-treated cheese was signicantly lower compared to the control after 180 d of ripening. Rynne and others 2008 Decelerated lipolysis due to lactic acid bacteria or lipolytic enzymes inactivation. Lowest concentration of total FFAi at pressure treatments of 400 to 500 MPa applied on d 15 after 60 d of ripening compared to other treatments. Highest levels of FFAs were obtained at 300 MPa applied on day 1 compared to other treatments. Esterase activity was not modied. Negligible differences in individual FFA levels compared to control. Lipolysis was not signicantly different from control over 180 d Reduced lipolytic activity of P. roqueforti.
Extracts of frozen Edam Reduced-fat, low-moisture, and immature mozzarella Garrotxa Ewes milk cheese
1d 1 or 15 d
Hisp anico
15 d
La Serena
2 or 50 d
Lipolysis Garrotxa
1d
1 or 15 d
Hisp anico
15 d
Full-fat Cheddar
1d
42 d
1d
a d = day; b mo = month; c wk = weeks; d h = time in hours when specied; e FAA = free amino acids; f SN = soluble nitrogen; g TN = total nitrogen; h PTA = phosphotungstic acid; i FFA = free fatty acids.
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Effect of High Hydrostatic Pressure on Physicochemical, Rheological, and Sensory Properties of Cheese
The physicochemical and sensory properties of cheese are the most valued. Almost all varieties have special characteristics that make them different in commercial terms. Therefore, ensuring that the processing technologies applied to them do not affect these identity attributes in a negative fashion is of utmost importance. Table 4 summarizes the results from studies conducted on cheese in regard to the impact HHP treatments have on physicochemical, rheological, and sensory properties.
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2012 Institute of Food Technologists Moment of application 1 da 1d 1d 1d 50400/5, 10, or 15/2225 400/20/20 400/5/14 Treatment conditions P (MPa)/t (min)/T ( C) 500/5, 10, or 15/10 Reference Capellas and others 2001 Saldo and others 2002c Sandra and others 2004 Impact L and a decreased, whereas b increased compared to control cheese. Lower lightness and higher chroma values than control cheese. More yellowish after 1 d posttreatment than control cheese, but not after 8 d. Increasing pressure intensity and holding time did not affect L , but a decreased and b increased compared to control cheese. 1d 1 and 4 mob 200800/5/25 345 or 483/3 or 7/N.S.c Serrano and others 2004; Serrano and others 2005 Wick and others 2004 1d 1 and 5 d 400/20/25 400/10/25 Rynne and others 2008 OReilly and others 2002b 1d 3d 1 or 15 d 200500/10/12 400/5/21 50, 225, or 400/1 h / 14 Sheehan and others 2005 Messens and others 2000 Juan and others 2007c 2 or 50 d 15 d 1 or 15 d 2 or 50 d 1, 3, or 50 d 50/72 h/25 300 or 400/10/10 400/5/10 200 or 500/10/12 300 or 400/10/14 400 or 600/7/10 Accelerated shredability (microstructure and sensory properties of 27-d-old commercial cheese obtained in 1 d). Pressures up to 300 MPa applied to 1-mo-old cheese had no signicant effect. At 800 MPa, cheese had similar fracture stress and Youngs modulus as control cheese. Pressure applied to 4-mo-old cheese increased fracture work. Increased fracture strain and fracture stress values, lower uidity, owability, and stretchability increased up to 21 d, but to a lesser extent than in control cheese. Reduced time required to attain satisfactory cooking performance (by 15 d). Increased uidity, owability, stretchability, and reduced melting time on heating at 280 C. No signicant effect on rheological properties. Less rigid and solid-like, more viscoelastic, and had less resistance to ow at longer times. Moderate pressures applied on day 1 enhanced rmness and cheese treated at higher pressures showed highest deformability, lowest fracturability, and rigidity. More uid and less elastic than controls. Highest fracturability, hardness, and elasticity in cheese treated on day 2. Saldo and others 2001 Garde and others 2007 vila and others 2006 A Juan and others 2007d Treatments applied to immature cheese limit the formation of volatile compounds. However, differences become less signicant during ripening. Treatments applied at more advanced stages do not cause signicant differences compared to control cheese. Arqu es and others 2007 Delgado and others 2011
Cheese variety
Mat o
Garrotxa
Queso fresco
Rheological properties
Cheddar
Cheddar
Low-moisture mozzarella
Garrotxa La Serena
Sensory properties
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One of the most frequently cited benets of employing HHP in food processing over traditional methods, such as heating, is ensuring microbiological safety while still retaining the sensory quality characteristics of fresh food products. In cheese, this is true if treatment conditions are not too intense and not applied in the early stages of ripening. This behavior is mainly due to the higher inactivation rates observed in HHP treatments applied on immature cheese, which hinders the formation of certain volatile compounds and lowers enzymatic activity. Ding and others (2001) found more intense pressure treatments (550 MPa compared to 345 MPa) held for longer periods of time (30 min compared to 10 min) to cause a greater reduction in microorganism counts with less outgrowth during ripening, which resulted in Swiss cheese slurries with less aroma development. Delgado and others (2011) observed that lower pressure treatments (400 MPa compared to 600 MPa) applied at more advanced stages of ripening (50 d compared to 30 or 1 d) produced less intense changes in the volatile prole of treated raw milk goat cheese compared to controls. HHP treatments applied on day 1 decreased the amount of most volatile compounds due to LAB inactivation, but enhanced the formation of ketones, hydrocarbons, and -decalactone. Arqu es and others (2007) evaluated volatile compounds, odor, and aroma of La Serena cheese HHP-treated at 300 or 400 MPa for 10 min at 10 C on day 2 or 50 after manufacture. HHP treatments applied on day 50 did not inuence either the volatile compound prole or the sensory characteristics of 60-d-old cheese. On the other hand, pressure treatments on day 2 enhanced the formation of branched-chain aldehydes and 2-alcohols except 2butanol, but retarded the formation of n-aldehydes, 2-methyl ketones, dihydroxy-ketones, n-alcohols, unsaturated alcohols, ethyl esters, propyl esters, and branched-chain esters. Differences in the levels of some volatile compounds between treated and untreated cheeses disappeared during ripening. The odor quality and intensity of 60-d-old cheese were not signicantly affected by HHP treatments on day 2, but aroma quality and intensity of cheese Commercial Applications and Opportunities for HHP treated at 400 MPa resulted in signicantly lower sensory scores Processing of Cheese than obtained for the control cheese. Scores for families of odor The decision to implement HHP processing as a commerand aroma descriptors (lactic, vegetable, oral, toasted, and ani- cial preservation or ripening acceleration method requires careful
c
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Treatment conditions
Pressure / Time / Temperature
Microorganisms
S. aureus > L. monocytogenes > E. coli > A. hydrophila > Y. enterocolitica > S. enterica > yeasts and molds
Enzymes
Plasmin > Pepsin > Chymosin
Impact in cheese
Figure 1Schematic representation of the effect of HHP on microorganisms and enzymes in cheese.
planning based on technical and business plans (Farkas 2011). At the present moment, there are some cheeses and cheese-related products processed with HHP technology available in the European market. These include sandwich llings (based on cheese mixed with other ingredients), cream cheese, Cheddar cheese snacks, and cheese jerky which are pathogen-free, have increased shelf-life, and are being marketed as clean label products (Hiperbaric 2011). An advantage of HHP processing is the possibility of reducing or eliminating additives and preservatives from food products. Rodilla is a company located in Spain that reduced production costs and increased refrigerated shelf-life of their sandwich llings from 46 to 21 d by pressurizing at 500 MPa for several minutes without changing texture and avor characteristics (Tonello 2011). According to Purroy (2009), the costs of HHP processing are related to equipment capacity, pressure intensity, pressure holding time, and to the costs of labor, power, and maintenance. The initial investment on HHP equipment can range from US $650,000 up to US $2,600,000 depending upon equipment capacity (55 to 425 L). Small and medium sized companies that cannot afford HHP equipments or do not have sufcient oor space can outsource contract service providers like HHP Food Services in California, APC in Wisconsin, Deli 24 in Buckinghamshire, GL Foods in Texas, Millard in Nebraska, Safe Pac in Pennsylvania, and Universal Cold Storage in Nebraska. The HHP treatment cost per kilogram of food will depend on the operating pressure intensity and pressure holding time. Present HHP processing costs at xed processing times are approximately US $0.096/kg when treated at 300 MPa, US $0.112/kg at 400 MPa, US $0.129/kg at 500 MPa, and US $0.145/kg at 600 MPa. The cost of wear parts are US $0.015/kg, US $0.026/kg, US $0.034/kg, and US $0.05/kg for the stated pressure conditions, respectively. With regard to processing times, 5 min holding time
at a constant pressure would imply costs of US $0.159/kg, while 10 min would cost US $0.21/kg, 15 min US $0.263/kg, and 20 min US $0.316/kg. Several research studies have shown that pressure treatments at 500 to 600 MPa applied to cheese for 5 to 20 min are sufcient to achieve over 5 log cycle reductions of S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli when applied soon after manufacture or at more advanced stages of ripening. Less severe pressure conditions (345 MPa for 3 min) are needed to accelerate Cheddar cheese shreddability. Typical operating conditions for seafood, juice, and ready to eat products are 300, 450, and 590 MPa applied for 1, 1, and 3 min, respectively (Purroy 2009). Overall, depending on operating parameters and on the scale of operation, the cost of HHP processing is around US $0.05 to 0.5/kg of food (Rastogi and others 2007). Undoubtedly, the costs of implementing HHP could seem very high compared to traditional processing technologies. However, product recalls can cost company large amounts of money and permanently damage their brand. The human cost associated can be even more severe. In addition, reducing processing times through cheese ripening acceleration can have signicant impacts on production costs. Most types of soft cheese, including unpasteurized soft cheeses which have recently been implicated in disease outbreaks such as panela, requeson (ricotta), and fresco are good candidates for HHP processing due to their high water activity. Cheese varieties with low pH values (pH about 4.75) could also benet from HHP pasteurization as conrmed by De Lamo-Castellv and others (2006, 2007).
Final Remarks
The application of any new food processing technology presents signicant challenges to food technologists and scientists. HHP processing of cheese can ensure microbial safety and extend
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product shelf-life. However, depending on the intensity of treatment conditions and moment of application, physicochemical, rheological, and sensory properties may be altered. Therefore, a good balance must be attained between ensuring microbial safety and maintaining traditional cheese quality attributes. Although immature cheese is more sensitive to changes induced by pressure treatments, most of the observed changes are reversible and HHPinduced differences become less signicant compared to nonpressurized cheese during ripening. With regard to cheese ripening, application of HHP has mainly focused on ripening acceleration to reduce production costs. Noteworthy accomplishments have been the reduction in ripening time from 6 mo to 3 d of Cheddar cheese without negatively affecting sensory attributes (which to our knowledge has not been further investigated and evaluated on a commercial scale), the acceleration of Cheddar cheese shredability, which could reduce manufacturing costs by at least US $30/1000 kg, and the reduction in time required to attain satisfactory cooking properties of mozzarella cheese. Current trends are to apply HHP treatments at a desired stage in order to decelerate the ripening process and, therefore, extend optimal commercial quality by controlling enzyme and bacterial participation. General conclusions from this review can be schematically seen in Figure 1.
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