Abstract
Increasing the shelf life of perishable food products contributes to lower food waste and the possibility of widening distribution outreach in the food value chain. Soluble gas stabilization (SGS) technology is a pre-step process of dissolving carbon dioxide (CO2) into the product before packaging. This technology shows promising results on the lab-scale to limit microbial growth and other deteriorating mechanisms in food products. This review aims to gather available research results on the effects of combining SGS technology or dissolved CO2 with thermal and non-thermal processing technologies. The effects are structured according to the microbiological shelf life and safety as well as food quality parameters such as texture, color, drip loss, lipid oxidation, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) degradation. This paper reviews the SGS effects alone and in combination with conventional food treatments on the parameters mentioned above. Improving thermal and non-thermal technologies efficacy meets the demand for better food quality while being more economically feasible. Combining dissolved CO2 with these treatments, as hurdle technology, considerably enhances the bacteriostatic effect of the treatments, mostly without compromising the product quality. However, it is highly dependent on the product kind, treatment method, experiment protocol, and composition and concentration of the product microbiota. Moreover, the extent of positive synergistic effects could be promoted by addressing specific problems such as gas layer formation during sous vide treatment. This paper provides a better understanding of the SGS effectiveness, performing beside conventional food processing technologies, for the full-scale implementation of the technology. • Consumer demand for minimally processed foods is rising. • Thermal and non-thermal methods tend to reduce food quality for extending shelf life. • Soluble gas stabilization technology improves conventional food treatments efficacy. • Soluble gas stabilization combined with conventional food treatments is reviewed.
Highlights
Food industries are showing a continuous interest in developing technologies to extend the shelf life of products while maintaining nutritional quality and ensuring safety
Soluble gas stabilization (SGS) combined with sous vide significantly increased the bacterial inhibition, decreased the growth of both Brochothrix thermosphacta and Listeria innocua, extended their lag phase, fulfilling the consumers’ demand for fresh, lightly processed seafood with a prolonged shelf life SGS increased product shelf life significantly, decreased the growth rate of Listeria innocua and endogenous microbiota, and prolonged their lag phase without having any negative effect on the quality parameters of water-holding capacity (WHC), drip loss, surface color, and texture SGS increased product shelf life without negatively affecting the liquid loss, texture, color, and sensory properties as compared to samples heated in microwave alone in vacuum-packages The synergetic effects of SGS with Microwave volumetric heating (MVH) on microbial and physicochemical quality were insignificant
In a consumer study, SGS samples were judged less juicy and tender while firmer and drier compared to non-SGS ones The addition of CO2 to raw milk benefited the microbial and physicochemical quality, resulting in a product with less proteolysis and possibly longer shelf life, which is usually limited by the age gelation of Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) milk The addition of CO2 to milk could be used as a processing aid to enhance microbial inactivation during pasteurization
Summary
Food industries are showing a continuous interest in developing technologies to extend the shelf life of products while maintaining nutritional quality and ensuring safety. Soluble gas stabilization (SGS) technology is a pre-step process of dissolving carbon dioxide (CO2) into the product before packaging. This technology shows promising results on the lab-scale to limit microbial growth and other deteriorating mechanisms in food products. Combining dissolved CO2 with these treatments, as hurdle technology, considerably enhances the bacteriostatic effect of the treatments, mostly without compro mising the product quality. It is highly dependent on the product kind, treatment method, experiment protocol, and composition and concentration of the product microbiota. This paper provides a better understanding of the SGS effectiveness, performing beside conventional food processing technologies, for the full-scale implementation of the technology
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
