Enhancing Extraction Processes in the Food Industry

Extraction is an important operation in food engineering, enabling the recovery of valuable soluble components from raw materials. With increasing energy costs and environmental concerns, industry specialists are looking for improved techniques requiring less solvents and energy consumption. Enhancing Extraction Processes in the Food Industry is a comprehensive resource providing clear descriptions of the latest extraction methods and instruments used in food laboratories.

The book begins with an overview of solvent extraction technology. It examines pulsed electric fields and their effect on food engineering, and the potential and limitations of microwave-assisted extraction. It explores diffusion processes and reviews what is known about electrical discharge processes in the extraction of biocompounds.

Next, the book summarizes current knowledge on conventional and innovative techniques for the intensification of extractions from food and natural products, focusing on environmental impacts. It reviews recent developments in supercritical CO₂ extraction of food and food products, describes the pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) process, and examines future trends for PHWE. The book also examines essential oil extraction, and the tools and techniques of high pressure-assisted extraction. The authors demonstrate its application using litchi and longan fruits as examples.

The final chapters focus on extrusion-assisted extraction, gas-assisted mechanical expression, mechanochemically assisted extraction, reverse micellar extraction, and aqueous two-phase extraction. The book concludes with a chapter on the treatment of soybeans through enzyme-assisted aqueous processing, examining the economics involved as well as the development of the process.

A solid review of modern approaches that enhance extraction processes, this volume is destined to pave the way for future research and development in the field.

Nikolai I. Lebovka is currently head of the Physical Chemistry Department of the Biocolloid Chemistry Institute and professor of physics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev. He studies electric field–induced effects in biological and food materials and is also active in the fields of colloids and biocolloids, theory and applications of nanocomposites, computation physics, and theory and practice of percolation phenomena. He has published more than 230 papers in peer-reviewed journals and several chapters in books, and was a member of the organizing committee of several international conferences.

is a full professor at the Chemical Engineering Department and head of Laboratory for Agro-Industrial Technologies at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC), France. His main research interests are focused on mass transfer phenomena, theory and practice of solid–liquid separation, and innovative food technologies (especially electrotechnologies). He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and is the author of 18 patents. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Filtration Society (2001) and is a Laureate of the Price for the innovative technique for the environment (Ademe, 2008). He acted as a chairman of several international conferences.

is a full professor of chemistry and director of the Laboratory for Green Extraction Techniques of Natural Products (GREEN) at the Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France. His main research interests are focused on innovative and sustainable extraction techniques (especially microwave, ultrasound, and green solvents) for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. His research activities are documented by more than 100 scientific peer-reviewed papers and six patents. He is the coordinator of "France Eco-Extraction," a group that deals with international dissemination of research and education on green extraction technologies.