Recent advances in techniques for flavor recovery in liquid food processing

Abstract

Recovery of volatile flavor-active aroma compounds which are key components of processed liquid food streams is of utmost concern to food industry, as these compounds contribute to the quality of the final product. This review paper highlights the recently published research on different techniques that can be applied for recovery of the key flavor components which all aim for minimizing the loss of volatile aromas and (re-) using them in process streams, in order to enhance the flavor profile of the liquid food product. Among the available techniques for flavor recovery in food industry, distillation or stripping, pervaporation, supercritical fluid extraction, and adsorption showed potential for selective recovery of the flavor components from liquid food streams. These techniques can be combined in different stages of the process or applied as an alternative to the other techniques for aroma recovery. Less attention has been paid to supercritical fluid extraction among the available techniques, especially for recovery of aroma components from alcoholic beverages. Since this technology demonstrated high selectivity for flavor recovery in fruit juices and can take profit from applying natural solvents like CO₂, further research on the application of this technology combined with counter-current flow in a multi-stage contactor is recommended to optimize the recovery process. Adsorption also shows potential for flavor recovery that can be combined with thermal processing or applied as an alternative stand-alone technique.