Applied Food Research 2 (2022) 100130

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Applied Food Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/afres

An overview on ultrasonically treated plant-based milk and its properties –

A Review
Ashwin Kumar Sarangapany a, Amirtha Murugesan a, Amrutha Sri Annamalai a,
Azhagendran Balasubramanian a, Akalya Shanmugam a,b,∗
a
Food Processing Business Incubation Centre, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur, India
b
Centre of Excellence in Non Thermal Processing, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: Milk is one of the most familiar words to individuals of all age groups whose essential requirement ranges from
Plant-based milk neonates to senior citizens. It has become an unforgettable part of our diet. In spite of our self-sufficiency, people
Ultrasound started drifting to another reliable option called vegan milk or non-dairy alternative which has been in limelight
Beverage
for quite some time. There were many factors involved in the shift and the most prominent being lactose intol-
Physical stability
erance, prevention of animal exploitation, carbon footprint, etc. Despite this beverage seeming similar to dairy
Dairy Alternatives
milk, in reality it is far from it. Dairy milk is a natural emulsion, which is highly stable unlike the non-dairy milk
alternative which sediments easily. In order to increase the stability and consumer desirability of the product,
researches are being organized in this area. One such modern technology is ultrasonication and this proved to
be an impacting preservation and processing technique for a wide range of food products. Thus, this review will
highlight the effect of ultrasonication on plant-based milk beverages taking into effect various properties of the
beverage such as physical, functional, microbial and organoleptic properties of several non-dairy milk alternatives
constituting of peanut, almond, soy, coconut milk, etc.

1. Introduction dairy research, the review papers on ultrasonic processing of non-dairy

Currently, ultrasound (US) plays a major role in food processing tech-
nology. Ultrasound is a non-thermal processing method in food process-
ing, where it is used separately or in combination with other food pro-
cessing techniques like dehydration, microwave, supercritical Co2 , etc.
Sound is a travelling wave that is transmitted through elastic media
such as gases, liquids, and solids as longitudinal waves. Longitudinal
sound waves are waves of alternating pressure oscillating through their
mean positions and cause regions of compressions and rarefactions. The
ultrasound is part of sound waves and is represented in Fig 1 and is
classified into two: 1) Low-intensity ultrasound (with power intensity
of <1 Wcm−2 and frequency of 5-10 MHz); and 2) High-intensity ultra-
sound (with power intensity of 10-100 Wcm−2 and frequency of 20 –
100 kHz), where the former is used in material science and the latter in
food processing technologies. High-intensity ultrasound is used in var-
ious food and dairy processing operations for homogenization, extrac-
tion, degassing, emulsification, frying, cutting, mixing, brining, pickling,
degumming, and also in meat tenderization (Tiwari & Mason, 2012).
Though employment of ultrasound in varied research areas of dairy pro-
cessing is widespread with huge compilations of review materials on
milk or dairy alternatives (i.e. plant-based milk or plant milk) are only
scarce. This paper aims at providing a detailed review of various aspects
of ultrasound processing tools on non-dairy milk or plant-based milk.
The drinkable extracts of plants also called plant-based milk are
nowadays emerging due to their nutritional functions. These act as a
substitute for dairy-origin milk, especially for people having lactose in-
tolerance and who are highly sensitive to cow’s milk (Iorio et al., 2019).
To avoid the high risk of the development of cardiovascular diseases,
plant-based milk is highly preferred (Feyza et al., 2020). According to
Jenna Blumenfeld, the consumption of non-dairy alternatives like ice
cream, yogurt, creamer, butter, and dressings got a yield of 697 million
USD in 2018, and the creamer industry is growing at the rate of 1per-
cent (Bartholemew, 2021) and thus plant-based milk envisages a huge
market potential and requires a more number of newer processing tools
like ultrasound technology for extension of stability, shelf life and other
properties of processed food.
To reiterate, the plant-based substitutes or the plant milk are the
aqueous extracts of legumes, cereals, seeds, nuts, etc., that resembles
animal-based milk. According to Diarra, plant-based beverages are sus-
pensions that consist of dissolved plant materials. The preparation of

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: akalya@iifpt.edu.in (A. Shanmugam).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afres.2022.100130
Received 2 March 2022; Received in revised form 27 April 2022; Accepted 14 May 2022
Available online 19 May 2022
2772-5022/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
A.K. Sarangapany, A. Murugesan, A.S. Annamalai et al.
plant-based beverages consists of milling of raw material (wet/dry), fol-
lowed by preparation of slurry and filtration of slurry to the consistency
of cow milk followed by addition of other ingredients like sugar, flavor,
etc., continued by homogenization and pasteurization to improve the
microbial and storage stability of the beverage (Diarra et al., 2005). Even
though the plant-based beverages are low in saturated fat, some have a
high caloric value and some have as much energy as full milk because of
its sugar and carbohydrate (Mäkinen et al., 2016). Plant proteins have
lower nutritional values when compared with animal proteins because
of limiting amino acids and poor digestibility (Friedman, 1996). How-
ever plant-based beverages have some health effects like when low-fat
cow’s milk is replaced with oat or soy milk it has decreased the plasma
cholesterol and concentration of low-density lipoproteins after consum-
ing it for 4 weeks (Önning et al., 1998). The isoflavones of soy milk,
has the effect of preventing cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer, and
osteoporosis (Patisaul & Jefferson, 2010). The seed of plant sources
even though contains antinutritional factors like inositol phosphates and
trypsin inhibitor (reason for the decrease of protein digestibility), they
can be inactivated by appropriate heat treatment (Friedman, 1996).
When the nutrients are deficient in plant-based beverages, it can be
fortified with fortificants like ascorbic acid and likewise the mineral
bioavailability can be increased by germination, fermentation, or by us-
ing chelating agents as mentioned by Reddy et al., 1982. The commonly
consumed plant-based beverage is soy milk which originated 100 years
ago (Mäkinen et al., 2016). Soy milk received the approval of the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999 due to its tendency to lower
coronary heart disease and due to its nature, it was introduced into the
market (Patisaul & Jefferson, 2010). When soy products play a major
role in western countries, other products like coconut milk, oat milk,
and almond milk also emerged and decreased the market share of soy
milk (Mintel, 2011). 15 % of European consumers avoid dairy products
because of lactose intolerance, allergy to cow’s milk, and also cholesterol
effects (Mäkinen et al., 2016). Thus, in this review, we focus to bring out
the value of other pulses/legume milk leaving soybean, which is already
much explored. The other pulse or legume-based milk includes cow-
2
Applied Food Research 2 (2022) 100130
Fig. 1. Classification of sound waves with their
frequency.
Fig. 2. The principle of cavitation effect during
ultrasound treatment.
pea, mung bean, chickpea, faba bean, green pea, etc. Hence this review
would broadly cover the processing effect of ultrasound on the various
pulse or legume-based milk. Ultrasound, which is seen as a modern tech-
nique is primarily for its physical effects called acoustic cavitation. This
produces changes in food matrices (Shanmugam & Ashokkumar, 2017)
by the growth and collapse of microbubbles in turn causing localized
incremental temperatures, turbulence, shockwaves and pressures and
is represented in Fig 2. The equipments which are primarily used for
ultrasound application include sonotrode as illustrated in Fig 3 A and
ultrasonic water bath system as represented in Fig. 3B. Thus, the main
objective of this paper is to review the effect of ultrasound on changes to
the properties of plant-based milk or extracts such as physico-chemical
properties, functional properties, microbial stability and organoleptic
properties upon processing.
2. Effects of ultra-sonication on physical properties of plant milk
2.1. Change in total soluble solids
In a study Maghsoudlou et al., 2016 has developed almond based
plant milk with additives, viz., modified starch, lecithin and agar us-
ing ultrasound treatment at 20 kHz and 300 W process time of 0 min,
2.5 min and 5 min. The results showed that the brix value of sonicated
samples showed a decrease in comparison to unsonicated sample. The
decrease in brix upon increase in sonication time was correlated to de-
crease in the amount of modified starch in sonicated samples. This was
in turn correlated to decrease in the viscosity of sonicated samples with
increase in sonication time from 0 to 5 min. The decrease in brix value
with increase in sonication time was attributed to disruption of cell walls
and hydrolysis of polysaccharides, i.e. modified starches, by the shear
forces of ultrasound caused by acoustic cavitation.
In a different study conducted by Salve et al., 2019 showed that there
was an increase in total soluble solids from untreated of 9.1° B to 11°
B in sonicated peanut attributed to partial cooking or water absorption
particles at high temperature, leading to swelling of the same. The phys-
A.K. Sarangapany, A. Murugesan, A.S. Annamalai et al.
ical effects of acoustic cavitation enhanced mass transfer of proteins out
of cells giving rise to increase in values of protein and soluble solids.
2.2. Physical Stability
The main drawback in the formulation of plant milk is its stabiliza-
tion. Maghsoudlou et al., 2016 used US treatment to stabilize the al-
mond extract in the preparation of almond milk. Extract was treated by
US 300 W with a treatment time of 0, 2.5 and 5 min, respectively, and
constant treatment using 20 kHz frequency at 300 W for 4.9 min gave
physically stable almond extract. The calculation of physical stability of
almond milk was done by measuring the total sedimented solids during
a period of time. The sedimentation of particle reduced with increase
in the treatment time due to the high shearing effect prevailing during
cavitation that fragmented colloidal pectin molecules into much smaller
particle, which in turn aided in the stabilization of the colloid system. As
we know that the sedimentation of particle is inversely proportional to
stability, we can see that the stability was increased from 20% at 0 min
to 90% at 5 min during US treatment. Sedimentation characteristics of
plant milk is regarded as an important functional property among oth-
ers like viscosity, colour, appearance, turbidity, etc. It determines the
overall sensorial acceptability of non-dairy plant milks in the market.
Usually addition of excessive amounts of stabilizers and emulsifiers ad-
dresses the instability issues of commercial non-dairy plant milks, other-
wise these non-dairy milk alternatives undergo phase separation result-
ing in an unstable inhomogeneous undesirable product. Such instability
issues are solved by novel physical techniques like ultra-high pressure
homogenizer, ultrasound, high pressure homogenizer, etc (Dhankar &
Kundu, 2021; Manzoor et al., 2021; Vogelsang-O’Dwyer et al., 2021).
The sedimentation mechanism can be explained according to stokes law
that is the unsonicated samples will have large particle size which will
sediment faster with gravity than sonicated samples with smaller parti-
cle size upon storage (Rojas et al., 2016). Even a small amount of sed-
imentation reduction is a big achievement in a market sample such as
a plant-based milk. Thus, US is seen as a good tool for reducing the
sedimentation.
Salve et al., 2019 treated peanut extract at 20 kHz for 3 min. All the
sonicated milk samples at powers of 200 W, 300 W and 400 W with
treatment time of 3 min did not show any phase separation and were
stabilized. The improvement of sedimentation index value in the ultra-
3
Applied Food Research 2 (2022) 100130
Fig. 3. Different ultrasound system (A) is
sonotrode and (B) is an ultrasonic water bath.
sound treated sample may be due to the reduction in the particles size,
paving a way for reactions between molecules. The reduction in particle
size by ultrasound results in a larger interfacial area and a reduced mean
distance between particles, resulting in stronger inter-particle interac-
tions and thus stability of plant milk against phase separation (Bi et al.,
2015; Vela et al., 2021). Also the denatured proteins resulted by open-
ing up of protein molecules showed enhanced surface hydrophobicity
and thus increased stability of extract. As ultrasound treatment’s power
and time is increased, there is increased possibility of opening up of
protein structure resulting in increase in hydrophobicity of proteins by
partial denaturation at the bubble-liquid interfaces of acoustic cavita-
tion and making them a surfactant followed by adsorption of protein
at the oil and water interfaces, resulting in higher zeta potential value
and thus stability of plant milk against phase separation. (Aslan et al.,
2018; Vanga et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020; Shanmugam et al., 2014a;
Shanmugam et al., 2014b).
2.3. Particle size
The higher shearing effect because of the extended US time during
the preparation of almond milk caused a reduction in the particle size.
Particle size was about 300 μm initially which got reduced to 45 μm
after 5 min of US time (Maghsoudlou et al., 2016).
Peanuts comprise of 40–45% fat (Salve & Arya, 2021), which is par-
tially extracted during plant milk synthesis in addition to protein. Four
different kind of samples were taken of which one is untreated sample
and other three samples were 200 W, 300 W and 400 W with treatment
time of 3 min. Sonication at the intensity of 200 W for 3 min, decreased
the fat globules size and the intensity of decrease is more in 300 W and
400 W respectively, denoting the effectiveness of treatment on peanut
milk (Marchesini et al., 2015). It is caused because of the fragmenta-
tion of particles generated by the high intensity ultrasonic cavitation
(Shanmugam et al., 2012). Here a well-defined matrix comprising of
smaller suspended particles is generated leading to lower sedimentation
against the sedimentation observed in unsonicated samples with larger
sized particles (Guimaraes et al., 2018).
Lu et al., 2019 conducted research to study of the effect of high in-
tensity US on coconut milk composite system which has maize kernels
and high amylose maize starch in the formulation. In the study, the pure
coconut milk without ultrasonic treatment showed particles of sizes in
A.K. Sarangapany, A. Murugesan, A.S. Annamalai et al. Applied Food Research 2 (2022) 100130

two groups of 60–300 𝜇m, 0.01 𝜇m and 1–20 𝜇m. However, post the
US process, the particle size was reduced and size ranged majorly be-
tween 0.01-0.7 𝜇m and 2–30 𝜇m. But, in case of coconut milk emulsion
stabilized using maize, the distribution was monomodal and the magni-
tude of size reduction was higher in comparison to pure coconut milk
samples after US treatment. The electronegativity of the maize kernel
and high amylose maize starch added to coconut milk contributed to
the stability of the system and thus improved the particle distribution
curve from bimodal distribution to monomodal distribution.
2.4. Colour
Color is an important attribute that affects consumer satisfaction and
plays as a visual indicator to judge the quality of any beverage. The
sonication treatment had a noticeable effect on lightness (L∗ ) and yel-
lowness (b∗ ) of almond milk. Initial values of L∗ and b∗ was 60.4 and
-1.8 respectively and finally they were 82.6 and 1.1 respectively. It can
be hypothesized that dispersed particles increase by diminishing their
size on US treatment, which brought an increase in light scattering and
higher lightness values of the samples which in turn caused change in
the process parameters such as L∗ and b∗ (Maghsoudlou et al., 2016). In
a contrast study conducted by (Lu et al., 2019), ultrasonic radiation did
not affect the L∗ value, a∗ value, b∗ value or ΔE Lab (colour difference)
value of the coconut milk system having maize additives.
Likewise, the colour attributes of the peanut upon ultrasonication has
improved, especially the lightness or L∗ value and is mainly attributed
to the dispersion and reduction in size of the particles of fat globules
and pea proteins (Salve et al., 2019).
Medium adhered to the dispersed particle denotes the physical stabil-
ity of the product (Y. Li & Xiang, 2019). Higher 𝜁 -potential (over 60
mV) either negative or positive signifies good stability, below 20 mV
means limited stability and below 5 mV causes aggregation and coagu-
lation (Mahbubul et al., 2014). The 𝜁 -potential of the ultrasonic treat-
ment of peanut milk incremented from −27.6 mV (untreated) to −30
mV (Ultrasound treatment at 300 W). Four different kinds of samples
were taken of which one is untreated sample and other three samples
were US treated at 200 W, 300 W and 400 W all of which were hav-
ing treatment time of three minutes. This implicates higher stability of
the treated peanut milk further substantiated by the separation index.
The Ultrasound intensity of 400 W with significantly reduced 𝜁 - poten-
tial (−11 mV) created instability generating aggregates produced due to
super cavitation (Salve et al., 2019).
Lu et al., 2019 noticed that the absolute 𝜁 -potential electro nega-
tivity number of pure coconut milk was enhanced from -0.446 mV to
-9.396 mV by ultrasound treatment due to the cavitation caused by the
ultrasonic bubbles, generating dissociation of water molecules, produc-
ing and hydrogen, hydroxyl radicals and other free radicals. In the same
study the electronegativity of the maize kernel coconut milk composite
system was – 34.573 mV and high-amylose maize starch coconut milk
system was -26.286 mV which varied remarkably, which lead to the
improved stability of the system. The reason behind this might be the
potential change of starch granule surface proteins from hydrophilic to
hydrophobic nature after heating. Thus the electrostatic stability of co-
conut milk was changed significantly by the adding maize kernels and
maize starch to it. The Table 1 shows the effect of ultrasound on physical
and functional properties of different plant milks.

2.5. Titratable acidity

Salve et al., 2019 observed that there was a slight increase in the
pH of ultrasound processed peanut milk samples when compared to un-
treated sample and it increased from 6.6 in untreated sample to 6.7
in the US treated sample at 400 W for 3 min. The titratable acidity of
peanut milk was substantially decreased from the value of 1.08 in the
untreated sample to 0.13 in US 400 W 3 min treated samples due to
increasing intensity of US treatment. This is due to the change in the
charge of the particles induced by cavitation which led further to in-
crease in the negative charge of 𝜁 -potential, thereby resulting in increase
in pH.
2.6. 𝜁 -Potential
The electrical potential difference between the mobile dispersion
medium and the stationary layer of the dispersion is called 𝜁 -Potential.
3. Effect of ultrasound on emulsification properties of
plant-based milk
3.1. Emulsion stability of ultrasonically treated plant-based milk
Emulsions are made by combining two or more insoluble liquids, one
of which is scattered is called the dispersed phase, into the other, the
continuous phase as very minute droplets. Different forms of emulsions
can be created by mixing two liquids. Example: Water-in-oil, initially
produces an oil-in-water emulsion, in which oil acts as the scattered
phase and water acts as the continuous phase. They also can form a
water-in-oil emulsion, in which the water acts as the scattered phase
and the oil acts as continuous phase (Krasulya et al., 2016). Many sci-
entists have identified that high intensity ultrasound is energetically ef-
ficient than any other conventional and modern emulsification methods
(Shanmugam et al., 2014b; Thomas et al., 2018; Taha et al., 2020). In the

Table 1
Effect of ultrasound on physical and functional properties of different plant milks.

S.no Plant milk Physical properties influenced References

1) Peanut milk 1) Microstructure Salve et al., 2019

2) Particle size Salve & Arya, 2021
3) 𝜁-potential
4) Sedimentation index
5) Colour
6) Rheological properties
1) Brix
2) Almond milk 2) Physical stability Maghsoudlou et al., 2016;
3) Particle size Cameron et al., 2009
4) Colour attributes
5) Rheological properties
1) Particle size distribution
3) Coconut milk 2) 𝜁-potential Lu et al., 2019;
3) Break down of fat droplets, Stable emulsion Kentish et al., 2008;
4) Rheological properties Das & Kinsella, 1990;.
Evans et al., 2013;.
Rodsamran & Sothornvit, 2018;.
Liu & Tang, 2011;.
Le & Le, 2015.

4
A.K. Sarangapany, A. Murugesan, A.S. Annamalai et al. Applied Food Research 2 (2022) 100130

Table 2
Effect of ultrasound on emulsification properties of different plant milk.

US treatment
S.no Sample specifications Effects after ultrasound treatment References

1 Coconut milk 2.27–6.82 W/ g for 2.5 Break down of fat droplets, Stable Le & Le, 2015
min. emulsion
2 Almond milk 20KHz for 1, 4, 8, 12, Changes in secondary structure Vanga et al.,
and 16 min. 2020
3 Peanut milk 200W, 300W, 400W Particle size reduction, Stable Salve et al.,
emulsion, Shelf-life extension 2019
4 Soy milk 20 kHz at 1, 5 and 15min Particle size reduction, Stable Preece et al.,
emulsion 2016

Table 3
Effect of ultrasound on microbial properties of different plant milk.

S.no Sample Ultrasound conditions Effects after ultrasound treatment Reference

1 Soy milk
2 Almond milk
3 Peanut milk
4 Rice milk
5 Oat milk
6 Hazelnut milk
35 kHz and 130 kHz frequencies,
20 and 40 ᵒC and 20, 40 and 60
min
80 % of power, 8 min
and pulse at 6 s for E. coli
and power of 80 %; 2 min; 6 s for
L. monocytogenes
400 W
130 W, 40-100 % power, 2-10
min, 2-10 s pulse rate
40 kHz, 11W/cm2 , 3-10min
60-80 % amplitude, 15-20 min
35kHz have greater result than 130kHz. Reduced microbial Ronak Fahmi, 2012
content with increased sonication time from 20 to 60 min and
temperature from 20 to 40 °C
Reduction of E. coli from 5.12 to 3.81 log CFU/ml and Iorio et al., 2019
reduction in growth rate from 1.19 to 0.79 (log CFU/
mL)/day)
Complete elimination of L. monocytogene
Log reduction of 1.19 for TPC and 0.9 for yeast Salve et al., 2019
Reduction of S. enterica about 5-8 log CFU/ml Campaniello et al., 2018
Increased population of L.casei around 7-8.86 log CFU/ml Herrera-Ponce et al., 2021
Complete inactivation with thermal treatment at 85 °C (Total Ilyas Atalar, 2019
aerobic mesophilic bacteria and yeast-mould)

emulsification process initially, the outbreak of scattered phase droplets
into the continuous phase is influenced by some interfacial waves and
instabilities and finally breaking of droplets through acoustic cavitation
takes place. The physical impacts of ultrasound caused by acoustic cavi-
tation can increase oil droplet breakdown, making it easier to build sta-
ble oil-in-water emulsions with small droplet sizes (Gallo et al., 2018).
3.1.1. Emulsion stability
The stability of emulsions can be influenced by a variety of envi-
ronmental conditions such as pH, temperature, and ionic strength. Food
proteins, particularly those derived from plants, have a high molecular
weight and dissolution rate, which could contribute to the stability of
plant-based protein emulsions. As a result, these proteins’ emulsifying
characteristics must be enhanced (Taha et al., 2020).
Le & Le, 2015 experimented, microencapsulation of ultrasonically
treated coconut milk and gelatin solution mixed with maltodextrin and
found that it exhibited lasting stability. A Model VC 750 ultrasonic probe
was used to homogenize a combination of coconut milk and gelatin so-
lution for 2.5 minutes at varying power levels (2.27–6.82 W/ g). The
ultrasonic emulsions were then combined with maltodextrin solution
and agitated for 30 minutes at 750 rpm using a magnetic stirrer. The
author concluded that sonication treatment can break fat droplets and
produce stable emulsions, as the result the microencapsulation yield of
coconut milk fat increases.
Salve et al., 2019 reported the particle size reduction of peanut milk
at 200 W, 300 W and 400 W using 20 kHz ultrasound with nominal
applied power of 450 W. The author reported that the particle size (d50)
reduced after ultrasound treatment at higher power levels as compared
to the untreated peanut milk (control). They also reported there was no
significant variation found in the particle size of untreated peanut milk
(0.29 ± 0.05 𝜇m) and 200 W sonicated sample (0.22 ± 0.03). However,
the particle size decreased significantly on treating at 300 W and 400 W
US treatment and values are 0.21 ± 0.02 𝜇m and 0.02 𝜇m, respectively
(Table 1).
Ultrasound in the lower frequency (20 kHz), has been identified to
be effective in the development of stable emulsions. Li et al., 2017, per-
formed a comparative study on energy efficiency and effectiveness of
sono-emulsification to high-pressure homogenization (HPH) at various
pressure levels from 20MPa to 120MPa. The study was compared based
on several factors such as frequency, treatment duration, and volume of
the sample. The analysis indicated that ultrasonic amplification had a
greater impact on size reduction than the duration of ultrasound emul-
sification. It was also reported that when working volume increases,
the droplet size gets decreases due to a reduction in energy density. The
volume-mean diameters of the three distributions conducted by Li et al.,
2017, are 125 nm (US), 128 nm (HPH 101 MPa for 3 passes) and 120
nm (HPH 101 MPa for 4 passes). The author concluded that ultrasonic
emulsifiers were found to be more efficient than High-pressure homoge-
nizers as ultrasound can generate nano-emulsions with minimal energy
consumption (Li et al., 2017). The Table 2 shows the effect of ultrasound
on emulsification properties of different plant milk.
4. Effect of sonication on the microbial property of plant-based
milk
Sonoporation is also called cellular sonication. It is the use of sound
typically ultrasonic frequencies which create acoustic cavitation bub-
bles, thus employs shock waves from bubbles, modifying the permeabil-
ity of cell plasma membrane. This causes the cell disruption process. Ex-
tended exposure results in complete rupturing or cellular death. (Zenker
et al., 2003; Knorr et al., 2004; Ohl, 2006; Lee et al., 2013).
In soy milk, the limited frequencies of ultrasound at a temperature
between 20 and 40 °C give a significant reduction in microbial content
(Ronak Fahmi, 2012). In Almond milk, ultrasound processing makes a
significant reduction of E. coli and L. monocytogenes (Iorio et al., 2019).
In peanut milk, ultrasound processing increased extended shelf life com-
pared to unprocessed one at storage conditions (Salve et al., 2019). In
rice milk, ultrasound processing decreased the total count of S. enterica
(Campaniello et al., 2018). In oat milk, a specific frequency of ultra-
sound induces the population of L. casei by fermentation of the lactose
content (Herrera-Ponce et al., 2021). In hazelnut milk, the combina-
tion of ultrasound treatment and thermal treatment around 80 °C causes
complete elimination of all microorganisms (Ilyas Atalar, 2019). Thus
comparing to most of the plant-based milk and extract after the ultra-
sound treatment with or without combination treatments resulted in the
decrease of microbial activity by the principle of sonoporation and thus

5
A.K. Sarangapany, A. Murugesan, A.S. Annamalai et al.
we achieved lesser microbial content than the original samples before
ultrasound treatment. The Table 3 shows the effect of ultrasound on
microbial properties of different plant milk.
5. Conclusion and prospects
Even though it is complex to make a non-dairy alternative milk, the
future need of milk market is well dependent of healthy lifestyle choices.
Comparing to dairy milk, non-dairy alternative has less fats and also rich
in dietary fibers and bioactive phytochemicals which are present dairy
milk. It is good for people having lactose intolerance and who cannot
take dairy products. People who have concern about high fat, cardio vas-
cular diseases also can take non-dairy alternative. It also creates separate
of branch industrial science to create better unit operation of extracting
non-dairy alternative and new machineries which makes the non-dairy
alternative stable such as ultrasound so that product is shelf stable with
health benefits. In value addition of a product, it is very healthy if we
use technologies like ultrasound as it does not affect the nutrient com-
position of food matrix and which reduces the usage of large amounts
of chemicals or additives like thickeners and stabilizers in the formula-
tion, especially for providing product functionality and shelf stability in
case of plant-based milks. Thus ultrasound as a technique in production
of plant milks modifies the plant milks in a positive way by bringing
out changes in particle size of components including fat, 𝜁 -potential,
microstructure, sedimentation index, etc., reflecting the improvement
in physical stability, functional and organoleptic properties like colour,
rheology and microbial quality.
Declaration of competing interest
None.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ashwin Kumar Sarangapany: Investigation, Writing – original
draft. Amirtha Murugesan: Investigation, Writing – original draft.
Amrutha Sri Annamalai: Investigation, Writing – original draft.
Azhagendran Balasubramanian: Investigation, Writing – original
draft. Akalya Shanmugam: Conceptualization, Writing – review & edit-
ing, Supervision.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Ministry of Food Processing In-
dustries, Government of India and National Institute of Food Technol-
ogy Entrepreneurship and Management - Thanjavur, India for providing
guidance and knowledge support.
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