Emerging technologies and food shelf life extension

Even if the food industry is regarded as a sector with a low innovation rate, research on new technologies is continuously growing. Nutritional and sensory quality improvement are among the key drivers for innovation which have guided the recent implementation of mild technologies in the food industry. However, the actual global situation calls for strategies which could mitigate environmental impacts and energy costs. Emerging technologies have the ambition to guarantee safe, nutritious food with a long shelf life, at reasonable costs and in an environmentally friendly way: in fact, they are not the “magic wand” but undoubtfully offer several advantages - shelf life extension not always included! In hindsight, the “shelf life extension” hit, which has dominated literature for a few decades, might not be suited since most emerging technologies, with special regards for non-thermal ones, cannot guarantee the shelf life standards achieved by traditional processes. On the other hand, some technologies (i.e. dielectric heating, pulsed electric fields, etc.) offer readily exploitable potential as auxiliary tools for the optimization of drying, thawing and extraction processes. The widespread adoption of emerging technologies calls for high investments (probably with a short-term return) and for an improvement in the efficiency of distribution chains, considering the need for refrigerated storage and a shorter shelf life compared to conventional (thermal) technologies. The presentation will offer an overview on potential specific applications of novel technologies, highlighting shelf life-related aspects and discussing energy efficiency and overall sustainability in the perspective of their wider adoption by the food industry.