Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331
Review
Effect of ultrasound
on the technological
properties and
bioactivity of food:
a review
Ana Cristina Soria and
Mar Villamiel*
Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales (CSIC),
Juan de la Cierva, 3 Madrid-28006, Spain
(Tel.: D34 915854618; fax: D34 915644853;
e-mail: mvillamiel@ifi.csic.es)
This review is a comprehensive survey on the latest and more
recent applications of ultrasound (US) on technological proper-
ties and bioactivity of food. Apart from a brief discussion on the
fundamentals of ultrasound technology, examples have been set
out on the physical effects of US on the improvement of food
technological properties such as emulsification ability, solubil-
ity and texture, as well as on applications such as homogeniza-
tion, viscosity alteration, extraction, drying, crystallization and
defoaming. Among them, special emphasis has been placed on
ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE). Nowadays, developments
in ultrasonic equipment are such that it is feasible to consider
commercial opportunities based on industrial-scale ultra-
sonic-aided extraction of bioactives, with worthwhile econom-
ics gains. Additionally, the initial restrictions associated to
ultrasonically generated radicals in UAE have now been
explored to enhance the functionality of some types of food.
Finally, and despite the improved equipment design and the
higher efficiencies of US systems currently used for other appli-
cations, a better understanding of the complex physicochemi-
cal mechanism of the action of high-intensity ultrasound and
its effect on technological and functional properties of food
would also contribute to reinforce the future presence of ultra-
sonic technologies in the food industry.
* Corresponding author.
0924-2244/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2010.04.003
Introduction
Over the past few years, there has been an increasing
consumer’s interest toward functional food which, beyond
the basic function of supplying nutrients, claims to have
health-promoting or disease-preventing properties. In this
respect, it is of paramount importance to have processing
methods which preserve not only the nutritional and senso-
rial quality but also the bioactivity of certain of their
constituents.
To date, the application of heat is the most common
method for processing food, because of its ability to kill mi-
croorganisms and inactivate enzymes. Additionally, the use
of heat processing has been favoured by the important tech-
nological developments experienced over the last few years
together with the easier management of the equipment
used. However, heat processing e particularly under severe
conditions e may give rise to chemical and physical
changes that impair the organoleptic properties and reduce
the content or bioavailability of some nutrients. Therefore,
the food industry is constantly searching for emergent mild
processing technologies such as high pressure processing,
pulsed electric and magnetic fields, etc, not only to obtain
high-quality food with “fresh-like” characteristics, but
also food with improved or even novel functionalities
(Ashokkumar et al., 2008). Most of these technologies
are not completely new and they were tested several de-
cades ago in the food industry but without obtaining any
decisive success. The subsequent significant technological
advances of these processes together with the fact that
some of them have now become more cost-efficient and en-
vironmentally friendly for obtaining premium quality foods
have led to their revival and commercialization (Piyasena,
Mohareb, & McKellar, 2003; Vikram, Ramesh, &
Prapulla, 2005). Among these emergent technologies, spe-
cial attention has been paid to ultrasound (US) during the
past few years, particularly combined with mild pressure
and/or temperature (manothermosonication, MTS). In addi-
tion, there are a number of ultrasound applications that are
not related to food preservation, such as degassing and
foam control, mixing, emulsification and tenderization,
among others (Demirdöven & Baysal, 2009).
This paper aims to provide a detailed and critical review
of the latest applications of US with regard to the improve-
ment of some technological properties (emulsifying capac-
ity, solubility, texture, viscosity, etc) and the bioactivity of
food. Special emphasis has been placed on ultrasound
324 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331

assisted extraction as one of the most feasible and cost-ef-

fective large-scale applications of US in the food industry.

Principle of ultrasound technology in food

Ultrasound technology is based on mechanical waves at
a frequency above the threshold of human hearing
(>16 kHz). These waves travel either through the bulk of
a material or on its surface at a speed which is characteristic
of the nature of the wave and the material through which it
is propagating (Povey & McClements, 1988; Povey, 1998;
Mason, 1998; Knorr, Zenker, Heinz, & Lee, 2004).
Ultrasound can be divided into different frequency
ranges. Until recently, most applications of ultrasound in
the food technology involved a non-destructive analysis
which referred particularly to the quality assessment; such
applications use high frequency (100 kHze1 MHz) low
power (typically <1 W cm
2) US. Low-intensity ultra-
sound is most commonly applied as an analytical technique
to provide information on the physicochemical properties
of food such as firmness, ripeness, sugar content, acidity,
etc (Demirdöven & Baysal, 2009).
On the contrary, the power levels used in low frequency
(16e100 kHz) applications are so large (typically in the
range 10e1000 W cm
2) that they are used to alter, either
physically or chemically, the food properties (McClements, Fig. 1. Ultrasonic cavitation.
1995). In this review, we will focus on applications of low
frequency US (usually referred to as power ultrasound) in Another phenomenon resulting from the bubble size var-
the food industry. iation and subsequent collapse is the development of strong
Ultrasound effects on liquid systems are mainly related micro-streaming currents, associated with high-velocity gra-
to the cavitation phenomenon. Ultrasound is propagated dients and shear stresses that alter the media characteristics
via a series of compression and rarefaction waves induced (Suslick, 1988). Moreover, part of the acoustic energy can
on the molecules of the medium passed through (Fig. 1) be absorbed as heat; however, depending on the operating
(Mason, Riera, Vercet, & Lopez-Buesa, 2005). At a power conditions and substrate, the temperatures reached are usu-
sufficiently high, the rarefaction cycle may exceed the at- ally lower than 70  C (Villamiel & de Jong, 2000). Another
tractive forces of the liquid molecules and cavitation bub- important effect is that water molecules can be broken gen-
bles form from gas nuclei existing within the fluid. These erating highly reactive free radicals (H2O / H þOH) that
bubbles, distributed throughout the liquid, grow over the may react with and modify other molecules (Riesz & Kondo,
period of a few cycles to a critical size until they become 1992). This wide range of mechanisms involved in the ultra-
unstable and violently collapse (Shukla, 1992; Mason, sound treatment may induce physical and chemical effects
1998; Barbosa-Cánovas & Rodrı́guez, 2002). The implo- with several potential applications in the food industry.
sion of cavitation bubbles leads to energy accumulations
in hot spots, generating extreme temperatures (5000 K) Technological functionality based on the physical
and pressures (1000 atm), which produce, in turn, very effects of ultrasound
high shear energy waves and turbulence in the cavitation Developments in the application of US in processing
zone. The combination of these factors (pressure, heat date back to the years preceding the Second World War,
and turbulence) has a variety of effects on the US-irradiated when US was investigated for a range of technologies in-
system. Energy (in kWh L
1) and intensity (in W cm
2), cluding emulsification, among others (Mason, 2003). How-
along with the medium viscosity, surface tension, vapour ever, it is only recently that the main advances in the
pressure, nature and concentration of dissolved gas, pres- exploitation of power ultrasound in the food industry
ence of solid particles and temperature and pressure of have been achieved (Povey & McClements, 1988;
the treatment, determine the extent of cavitation. Addition- Demirdöven & Baysal, 2009). The novel applications of
ally, when liquid processing is intended to be scalable, ul- high-power ultrasound range from the existing processes
trasonic density (W cm
3) should also be considered, so with high-power enhanced to the development of processes
that it takes into account the extremely different acoustic which cannot be implemented so far with conventional en-
streams and the corresponding different results in the new ergy. A list of application areas with some examples are
volume (Patist & Bates, 2008). provided below.
 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331
Emulsification/homogenization
When two immiscible liquids are ultrasonically irradi-
ated, it is not always possible to mix them and to create an
emulsion; one of them must cavitate. During cavitation, bub-
bles can collapse near the interface of the two liquids and the
shock results in an efficient mixing of the two layers. Subse-
quently, very fine and highly stable emulsions can be
obtained, with a relatively low ultrasonic energy input.
Although commercial equipment supplying ultrasound
through bath or horn systems are well established in the
petrochemical, polymer, chemical, textile, pharmaceutical
and cosmetic industries (Canselier, Delmas, Wilhelm, &
Abismail, 2002), they have recently started to be used in
food industry, as in the production-line processing of fruit
juices, mayonnaise and tomato ketchup. Generated emul-
sions are often more stable than those produced convention-
ally (Mason, Paniwnyk, & Lorimer, 1996); mayonnaise is
a particularly interesting case, as its excellent white colour
clearly reflects the fine emulsion obtained by US (Patist &
Bates, 2008).
Moreover, ultrasound can also exert a stabilizing effect
on oil-in water emulsions by increasing the creaming stabil-
ity. Pongsawatmanit, Harnsilawat, and McClements (2006)
produced stable emulsions of palm oil and b-lactoglobu-
linealginate complexes at pH 4 and 5, since high-intensity
ultrasound treatment was able to reduce the degree of drop-
let flocculation in these emulsions. In a recent study by
Gaikwad and Pandit (2008), the effect of both irradiation
(time and power) and physicochemical properties of oil
on the dispersed phase volume and dispersed phase droplet
size of oil-in-water emulsions was evaluated. These authors
concluded that during ultrasonic emulsification, a drop
breakage as well as a marginal drop coalescence are pro-
duced. The latter effect might be attributed to the enhanced
collision frequency as a result of the increase in both the
number of droplets and the acoustic streaming velocity. Co-
alescence would be more noticeable at a lower power dissi-
pation level, where the possible contribution of cavitation
in drop breakage is lower.
Despite the obvious benefit of ultrasound as a cost-effec-
tive technology for emulsion formation and their easy in-
line installation within the existing plant in food industries,
future research on the equipment design should be aimed to
enlarge the penetration depth of cavitation into the liquid to
ensure a better emulsification (Mason et al., 2005).
On the other hand, the possibility of using ultrasound for
emulsion separation, i.e., to split it into its component aque-
ous and oil phases, has also been described (Pangu & Feke,
2004). Nii, Kikumoto, and Tokuyama (2009) submitted to
US treatment (2 MHz) an emulsion of canola oil and water,
observing an immediate flocculation of the oil droplets with
an improved separation degree when the power input and
irradiation time were increased.
Separation under ultrasonic irradiation is a complex phe-
nomenon consisting of the combination of creaming, coag-
ulation and coalescence. In addition to the force for
325
aggregating droplets, ultrasonic irradiation provides various
side effects to the emulsion samples. Temperature rise of
the emulsion sample due to the absorption of ultrasonic en-
ergy can cause the instability of the emulsion. Acoustic
streaming disturbs the emulsion and the mixing suppresses
the splitting. Although high-power US may be considered
as an adjunct to be used in non-chemical separation proce-
dures, its application requires extensive development work
and fine tuning if the opposite effect, that is, a more stable
emulsion or dispersion is to be avoided.
Ultrasonic treatment has also been considered for de-
cades as an effective method for the reduction of fat globule
size (Chambers, 1937; Schmidt, 1985; Martı́nez, Desai,
Davidson, Nakai, & Radcliffe, 1987). A reduction of up
to 81.5% in the size of fat globules was found by
Villamiel and de Jong (2000) during the continuous flow
high-intensity ultrasound processing of milk. When a tem-
perature either of 70  C or 75.5  C was reached, a particle
distribution with only one maximum was observed, as com-
pared to that obtained at lower temperatures (bimodal dis-
tribution). It has been suggested that at low temperatures,
clusters of fat globules with casein might be formed,
whereas at higher temperatures, there is a higher spread
of casein from the micelles (Walstra & Oortwijn, 1982).
Müller (1992) suggested that the application of ultra-
sound for milk homogenisation before cheese-making
might improve the yield of cheese due to an increase in
the binding locations for proteins links on the fat globule
membrane. Recently, Bermúdez-Aguirre, Mawson, and
Barbosa-Canovas (2008) studied by scanning electron
microscopy the effect of the thermosonication treatment
on the microstructure of fat globules in whole milk. US
treatment caused disintegration of the milk fat globule
membrane, resulting in smaller fat globules with a granular
surface due to their interaction with some casein micelles.
Changes in viscosity and texture
Depending on the ultrasound intensity, food viscosity
can either increase or decrease, the effect being temporary
or permanent. Cavitation causes shear, which in the case of
thixotropic fluids causes a temporary decrease in viscosity.
If enough energy is applied, the molecular weight may be
decreased giving rise to a permanent viscosity diminution
(Seshadri, Weiss, Hulbert, & Mount, 2003).
In ultrasound-treated cornstarch granules, Huang, Li,
and Fu (2007) found a decrease in viscosity; this effect be-
ing attributed to the degradation caused by a partial cleav-
age of the glycosidic linkages resulting in a decrease in the
molecular weight of the starch molecules. However, Bates,
Bagnall, and Bridges (2006) showed that the opposite is
also possible. In some vegetable purees, the ultrasound
treatment enables a higher penetration of moisture into
the fibre network which causes an increase in the viscosity
of tomato puree. Some studies (Kresic, Lelas, Jambrak,
Herceg, & Brncic, 2008) have also shown structure modifi-
cations on proteins after US treatments. An increased
326 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331
apparent viscosity accompanied by an increase in the con-
sistency coefficient have been related to changes in the
binding capacity of water when hydrophilic parts of amino
acids are opened toward water surroundings.
Changes in the functionality of dairy products due to ul-
trasonic processing have also been demonstrated. Thus, the
effect of ultrasound on the physical properties of yoghurt
has been studied by Wu, Hulbert, and Mount (2001) and
Vercet, Oria, Marquina, Crelier, and López-Buesa (2002).
The former authors found that ultrasound homogenization
of milk prior to starter inoculation improved, in some ex-
periments, yoghurt viscosity. The latter group showed that
the simultaneous application of heat (40  C) and ultrasound
(12 s at 20 kHz) under moderate pressure (2 kg cm
2) im-
proved the rheological properties of yoghurt by still un-
known mechanisms. Although measurements on intact
and slowly stirred samples showed that treated yoghurts
had stronger structures, it was also proved that the homog-
enization of milk fat globules by means of a manothermoso-
nication treatment was not the cause of the textural
differences observed. Further research should be done to
evaluate the contribution of longer fermentation times, the
denaturalization of proteins, etc, to the increased consis-
tency and viscosity of MTS yoghurts.
It has been described that a prolonged exposure to high-
intensity ultrasonic waves causes significant tenderization
of meat (Jayasooriya, Bhandari, Torley, & D’Arcy, 2004).
The application of ultrasound also facilitates the release
of myofibrillar proteins, which are responsible for binding
the pieces of meat together in the formed meat products.
Therefore, improved physical properties such as water-
binding capacity, tenderness and cohesiveness are obtained
in US treated meat products (McClements, 1995).
Extraction
High-intensity ultrasound is used as an inexpensive, re-
producible, simple and efficient alternative method of in-
dustrial relevance to improve the extraction process of
food bioactives.
All the mechanical effects involved in ultrasound can ac-
celerate the eddy and internal diffusion giving rise to an in-
creased mass transfer (Jian-Bing, Xiang-hong, Mei-qiang,
& Zhi-chao, 2006) and they allow a greater penetration of
solvent into the sample matrix (Rostagno, Palma, &
Barroso, 2003). If the substrate is dry then ultrasound
may be used to facilitate swelling and hydration and cause
an enlargement of the pores of the cell wall (Vinatoru,
2001). Additional benefits result from the disruption of
the biological cell walls during the ultrasonically induced
cavitation to facilitate the release of contents
(Dolatowski, Stadnik, & Stasiak, 2007). Furthermore,
mild operating conditions usually employed in ultrasonic
assisted extraction (UAE) show no significant changes in
the structural/molecular properties and functionality of
most bioactives, being this aspect of paramount importance
in the case of heat-sensitive food components.
Several substrates have been targeted by UAE as sources
of bioactive compounds; details on operating conditions
and performance for some of them are shown in Table 1.
Ghafoor, Choi, Jeon, and Jo (2009) have optimised, by
means of an experimental design, the operating conditions
(ethanol concentration, extraction temperature, extraction
time) in the ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic com-
pounds, antioxidants, and anthocyanins from grape seeds.
The extraction variables, particularly extraction time and
temperature, strongly influenced the UAE of all these com-
pounds, which showed a high correlation in their contents.
UAE was as effective as any other high temperature long-
time extraction process because it could greatly decrease
the extraction time. The efficiency of UAE could be ex-
plained by the fact that sonication simultaneously enhanced
the hydration and fragmentation process while facilitating
the mass transfer of solutes to the extraction solvent.
The effect of ultrasound conditions (frequency and dura-
tion of ultrasonication) on the extraction efficiency of isofla-
vones and trans-resveratrol from peanuts has been recently
studied by Chukwumah, Walker, Verghese, and Ogutu
(2009). The results obtained showed that sonication at
80 kHz facilitates the extraction of biochanin A and trans-re-
sveratrol, whereas 25 kHz was effective in the extraction of
daidzein and genistein, being multifrequency more efficient
than single frequency. The higher amount of analytes ex-
tracted by dual-frequency radiation could be explained by
the increased cavitation bubble collision which caused fur-
ther reduction in particle size and promoted leaching.
UAE has also been successfully applied combined with
other alternative methods such as supercritical-CO2 extrac-
tion for fractionation of isoflavones from soybeans
(Rostagno, Araújo, & Sandi, 2002) and gingerols from gin-
ger (Balachandran, Kentish, Mawson, & Ashokkumar,
2006), with improved rates and final yields. The ultrasonic
enhancement of the supercritical extraction could be attrib-
uted to the disruption of the cell structures and an increase
in the accessibility of the solvent to the internal particle
structure, which enhances the intra-particle diffusivity. Fur-
thermore, by reducing the substrate particle size, significant
improvements in both the extraction efficiency and the time
reduction could be achieved.
In spite of the known beneficial effects of UAE, some
aspects related to the stability of the extracted compounds
have been poorly studied and should therefore be consid-
ered. Thongson, Davidson, Mahakarnchanakul, and Weiss
(2004) used ultrasound to obtain extracts of ginger, finger-
root and turmeric. The application of this technique re-
duced the time of extraction to 5 min as compared with
the 24 h conventional extraction. However, a slightly re-
duced antimicrobial activity of the extracts against Listeria
was observed, whereas that against Salmonella was main-
tained. Zhao et al. (2006) applied high-intensity ultrasound
in the extraction of a variety of biologically active com-
pounds including carotenoids and they found that one of
the studied carotenoids, (all-E )-astaxanthin, was degraded
 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331 327

Table 1. Ultrasound assisted extraction of bioactive compounds

Bioactive compound UAE operating conditions Performance/Remarks Reference

Carnoxic acid from rosemary
Phenolic compounds,
antioxidants and anthocyanins
from grape seeds
Antimicrobials from Thai spices
(ginger, fingerroot and turmeric)
Chitin from fresh water prawn
shells
Flavonoids from Folium
eucommieae
Oleuropein and related
biophenols from olive leaves
10 g dried leaves þ 100 mL Bu-
tanone/Ethyl acetate/
EtOH, 50  C, 15 min
 Horn system (20 kHz)
 Ultrasonic bath (40 kHz)
2 g powdered grape
seeds þ 100 mL 52% EtOH
55e60  C, 30 min
Sonication water bath
(40 kHz, 250 W)
10 g dried ground
spice þ 100 mL Hexane/Iso-
propanol and mixtures
US probe (20 kHz, 5 min,
6.8 W cm
2)
Stainless steel probe
(41 W cm
2)
 US demineralization (0.25M
HCl, 1:40 w:v, 40  C, 4 h)
 US deproteinization (0.25 M
NaOH, 1:15 w:v, 40  C, 4 h)
5 g dried powdered
sample þ 300 mL 42% EtOH
Ultrasonic bath (59 kHz,
55  C, 70 min)
1 g milled dried
leaves þ EtOH:H2O (59:41)
at 5 mL min
1, 40  C, 25 min
US probe (20 kHz, 450 W)
immersed into a water bath in
which the extraction cell is
placed
 Extraction time reduction with Albu, Joyce, Paniwnyk,
respect to a shaking water bath Lorimer, & Mason, 2004
(15 min vs 3 h)
 Sonication reduces the depen-
dence of the extraction yield
on the solvent, allowing for
more economic, environmen-
tally-friendly, healthy and safe
processes
Optimization of operating Ghafoor et al., 2009
conditions by means of response
surface analysis to enhance the
yield of bioactives
US in combination with proper Thongson et al., 2004
solvent selection reduces
processing times and costs of
spice essential oils with
antimicrobial activity
Simpler and shorter extraction Kjartansson, Zivanovic,
treatments and production of less Kristbergsson, & Weiss, 2006
crystalline polymers for better
conversion to chitosan
UAE provides higher efficiency Huang, Xue, Niu, Jia,
than heating, microwaves- & Wang, 2009
assisted and enzyme-assisted
extractions.
 Optimisation of dynamic UAE Japón-Luján, Luque-Rodrı́guez,
with promise for application in & Luque de Castro, 2006
pilot-plant scale
 Faster and more efficient ap-
proach than conventional
methods
(25 min vs 24 h for 100% yield)

to unidentified colourless compounds, the degradation be-
ing higher when both the treatment time and the ultrasonic
power increased.
Vilkhu, Mawson, Simons, and Bates (2008) have re-
cently revised the main applications and opportunities for
ultrasound assisted extraction in the food industry. Nowa-
days, developments in ultrasonic equipment are such that
it is feasible to consider commercial opportunities based
on industrial-scale ultrasonic-aided extraction of bioactives
from plant and animal materials, with worthwhile econom-
ics gains (Hielscher, 2006; Vinatoru, 2001).
The application of UAE in food processing is extremely in-
teresting as it enables an increase in both the extraction yield
and rate leading to a significant reduction in the extraction
time and a higher throughput (Mason et al., 2005;
Dolatowski et al., 2007). It is possible to apply UAE to en-
hance the aqueous extraction and also in cases where organic
solvents can be replaced with generally-recognised-as-safe
(GRAS) solvents, which may provide economical, environ-
mental as well as health and safety benefits (Vilkhu et al.,
2008). As previously mentioned, the mild processing
temperature in UAE may also lead to an enhanced extraction
of thermolabile food bioactives.
Other applications
Several papers have addressed the requirement of mild
processing technologies such as radiofrequency and infrared
heating as an alternative to conventional food hot air drying
(Marra, Zhang, & Lyng, 2009; Nowak & Lewicki, 2004).
With this aim, extensive research has recently been pub-
lished on the exploitation of ultrasound in food drying (De
la Fuente-Blanco, Riera-Franco de Sarabia, Acosta-
Aparicio, Blanco-Blanco, & Gallego-Juárez, 2006). Ultra-
sound produces a series of effects (microagitation, creation
of microscopic channels and water cavitation) which facili-
tate moisture removal from food (Mulet, Cárcel, Sanjuán, &
Bon, 2003). The synergic effect of US and temperature in
convective drying assisted by high-power ultrasound im-
proves the rate of the process and allows dehydration to be
carried out at milder temperatures (Garcı́a Pérez, Roselló,
Cárcel, de la Fuente, & Mulet, 2007), thus preserving the
bioactivity of heat-sensitive food constituents and giving
328 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331
rise to dehydrated food of premium quality. As far as our
knowledge, no commercial scale installation has yet been de-
veloped for this application.
Ultrasound can assist crystallization by controlling the
nucleation and growth rate of crystals in frozen food
(Luque de Castro & Priego-Capote, 2007). It also reduces
textural softening and the release of cellular liquid on thaw-
ing (Zheng & Sun, 2006), being this of capital importance
for the consumer’s acceptance of meat, fruit and vegetable
products as well as for a better preservation of their nutri-
ents and/or bioactives.
Airborne ultrasonic technology also represents a clean and
commercial alternative to conventional methods for defoam-
ing carbonated beverages, fermentation systems and other
food processes, where foaming adversely affects the product
quality or yield (Villamiel, Verdurmen, & de Jong, 2000;
Gallego-Juárez et al., 2007). The breaking and destruction
of foams by ultrasound-based defoamers is assumed to be
a combination, among others, of the following effects: partial
vacuum on the foam bubble surface produced by high acous-
tic pressure, resonance of the foam bubbles which create in-
tersticial friction causing bubble coalescence, cavitation
and acoustic streaming (Mason et al., 2005). From the point
of view of manufacture, advances in ultrasonic defoamer sys-
tems have overcome the initial limitation of those based on
aerodynamic acoustic sources regarding energy consumption
and difficulties in sterilization (Gallego et al., 2002). The in-
creased production throughput, the reduction or elimination
of antifoam chemicals and the reduction of wastage in bot-
tling production lines are additional advantages of the use
of US as an efficient additional step in food processing.
Chemical effects of ultrasound on the functionalities
of food
Whilst the physical effects of acoustic cavitation have
been extensively studied, much less attention has been
paid to its chemical effects on food. During cavitation,
Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of ultrasound-induced crosslinking of lysozyme clusters at the airewater interface (Acoustic cavitation in water gen-
erates oxidants, which promote interprotein disulfide crosslinking of cysteine residues). Reprinted with permission from Cavalieri et al., Langmuir,
24, 10078e10083. Copyright 2008 American Chemical Society.
hydroxyl radicals can be produced and these sonochemi-
cally generated radicals can react with easily oxidable
food compounds. Depending on the process and the matrix,
the chemical effects of acoustic cavitation may be either
beneficial or detrimental. Chemat, Grondin, Shum
Cheong Sing, and Smadja (2004) studied the effect of ultra-
sound treatment during food emulsification and processing
of sunflower, olive and soybean oils and they found signif-
icant negative changes in their composition, due to the ox-
idation produced during the ultrasound treatment.
It is known that the activity of antioxidants in food and
biological systems is dependent on the degree of hydroxyl-
ation (Wanasundara, Shahidi, & Shukla, 1997). Radical for-
mation is considered as a disadvantage for preserving the
bioactivity of food components such as phenols (Wan
et al., 2005). However, it may enhance the antioxidant ac-
tivity of other components, such as flavonoids, by increas-
ing the extent of hydroxylation (Ashokkumar et al., 2008).
It is also worth noting that for those applications where OH
radicals adversely affect the integrity of food constituents,
low frequency ultrasound is preferred. This is because
both stable cavitation and an increase in the number of ac-
tive bubbles may be expected to increase the amount of
OH radicals generated at high ultrasound frequency. More-
over, OH radicals formed in extraction processes can be
quenched by the addition of selective additives such as as-
corbic acid and ethanol (Ashokkumar et al., 2008).
The functional properties of proteins are influenced by
their molecular structure that determines inter- and intra-
molecular interactions (e.g. formation of covalent and/or
non-covalent bonds). The radicals and superoxides gener-
ated during the sonolysis of water can be used to induce
crosslinking of protein molecules in an aqueous medium.
Cavalieri, Ashokkumar, Grieser, and Caruso (2008) syn-
thesised, for the first time, stable and functional air micro-
bubbles, coated with cross-linked lysozyme by means of
ultrasound (Fig. 2). Free thiol groups of lysozyme, which
 A.C. Soria, M. Villamiel / Trends in Food Science & Technology 21 (2010) 323e331
induced the aggregation of protein clusters at the bub-
bleesolution interface, were exposed by chemical reduc-
tion with DL-dithiothreitol prior to sonication. In
addition, the microbubbles formed retained the antimicro-
bial activity of lysozyme.
Gülseren, Güzey, Bruce, and Weiss (2007) found that
cavitation-generated hydrogen peroxide may alter the
chemical structure of bovine serum albumin (BSA), oxidiz-
ing its free sulfhydryl groups and leading to the undesirable
formation of sulfinic and sulfonic acid. The change in free
sulfhydryl content observed after US treatment of BSA
suggests that the protein aggregates are not due to the
formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges but maybe
to non-covalent interactions such as electrostatic and
hydrophobic interactions.
Conclusions and future trends
Although the use of ultrasound in processing is well
known, several novel and interesting applications for im-
proving the technological properties and the bioactivity of
food have emerged during the past few years. Ultrasonics
not only represents a rapid, efficient and reliable alternative
to improve the quality of food, but it also has the potential
to develop new products with a unique functionality.
The improvement in terms of a higher efficiency of the
ultrasonic generators and transducers together with the
availability of high amplitude/power units has contributed,
among others, to turn this laboratory-based prototype tech-
nology into fully operational commercial processes
throughout Europe and the USA (Patist & Bates, 2008).
The competitive energy costs and the low maintenance
make US processes economically profitable. Advantages
are also obtained for large-scale applications involving con-
tinuous flow-through US systems, as the high financial ben-
efits and short payback period outweigh the costs of
converting and maintaining the US processing equipment.
Among all the applications revised in this paper, UAE is
considered nowadays as the most feasible and economically
profitable large-scale application of US in the food field.
The current trend towards the consumption of bioactive in-
gredients makes compulsory the development of methods
based on non toxic extractants aimed at human uses. In
this sense, UAE, on its own or combined with other tech-
niques such as Supercritical Fluid Extraction, has emerged
as a clean, rapid and cost-efficient alternative for the extrac-
tion of food constituents with biological activity. The con-
trol of extraction conditions along with the addition of
selective additives as radical quenchers may mitigate the
occasional formation of radicals affecting negatively the
extraction of some easy-to-oxidize food components.
Finally, it is worth noting that like most innovative food
processing technologies, high-power ultrasonics is not
a standardized technology and therefore needs to be devel-
oped and scaled up for every new application. A better un-
derstanding of the complex physicochemical mechanism of
action of high-intensity ultrasound, along with the
329
relationship between the duration, intensity and frequency
of ultrasonic waves and their effects on the technological
and functional properties of food, would also contribute
to reinforce the presence of ultrasonic applications other
than UAE in the future of the food industry.
Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by Ministry of Education and
Science of Spain (projects AGL2007-63462 and Consolider
CSD2007-00063 INGENIO 2010). A.C.S. also thanks
CSIC and the EU for a postdoctoral I3P contract.
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