Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266
Review
Applications and
potential of
ultrasonics in food
processing
Dietrich Knorr*, Marco Zenker,
Volker Heinz and Dong-Un Lee
Food Biotechnology and Food Process Engineering,
Berlin University of Technology, Königin Luise Str. 22,
D-14195 Berlin, Germany (fax: +49(0)30 832 76 63;
e-mail: dietrich.knorr@tu-berlin.de)
Ultrasound has attracted considerable interest in food sci-
ence and technology due to its promising effects in food
processing and preservation. As one of the advanced food
technologies it can be applied to develop gentle but tar-
geted processes to improve the quality and safety of pro-
cessed foods and offers the potential for improving existing
processes as well as for developing new process options.
Some applications like cutting or sieving have already found
their place as state of the art technologies. Others are cur-
rently considered as possible candidates for industrial
application. In this review selected and potential applica-
tions of ultrasound mainly in the field of food preservation
and product modification are discussed.
# 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Within the last ten years emerging technologies such
as high hydrostatic pressure treatment and high inten-
sity electric field pulse treatment transformed into
established and emerged technologies respectively with
high pressure treated products available world wide
and electric field pulse treated ones on the verge to
commerzialisation (Hendrick, & Knorr, 2002; Zang,
* Corresponding author.
0924-2244/$ - see front matter # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2003.12.001
Barbosa-Canovas, & Swanson, 1995). As for ultrasound
technology no commercial food products are currently
promoted. However, ultrasound assisted technologies
for product modification or process improvement exist
(Welti-Chanes, Barbosa-Canovas, & Aguilera, 2002;
Zayas, 1986). It is the aim of this paper to review exist-
ing and potential applications of ultrasound technology
in food processing.
Principles of ultrasonics
Generation of ultrasound
The most applicable generation of ultrasound is car-
ried out using the electrostrictive transformer principle.
This is based on the elastic deformation of ferroelectric
materials within a high frequency electrical field and is
caused by the mutual attraction of the molecules polar-
ised in the field (Kuttruff, 1988; Raichel, 2000).
For polarisation of molecules a high-frequency alter-
nating current will be transmitted via two electrodes to
the ferroelectrical material. Then, after conversion into
mechanical oscillation, the sound waves will be trans-
mitted to an amplifier, to the sound radiating sonotrode
and finally to the treatment medium.
Mechanisms and effects of ultrasound
When sound energy passes to the medium resulting in
a continuous wave-type motion, longitudinal waves will
be generated with the result that the motion creates
alternative compression and rarefaction of the medium
particles (Povey & Mason, 1998). In dependence of the
frequency used and the sound wave amplitude applied a
number of physical, chemical and biochemical effects
can be observed which enables a variety of applications.
For food processing purposes it is important to address
the generation of heat due to ultrasound applications and
the related cavitation (implosion of gas bubbles) caused
by a rapid change of heating to 5500
C and pressure
increase to 50 Mpa (Leighton, 1998). The temperature
and pressure indicated are generated during a very short
periods of time at the point were cavitation occurs with
an order of temperature variation of 109
C/s (Suslick,
1991). Shock waves are generated due to cavitation,
which are contributed to the ultrasound effect.
Formation and behaviour of the bubble of cavitation
upon the propagation of the acoustic waves constitute
the essential events which induce the majority of the
acoustic effects (Dähnke, Swamy, & Keil, 1999;
262 D. Knorr et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266
Leighton, 1998; Save, Pandit, & Joshi, 1994, 1997;
Thakur & Nelson, 1997).
The amount of energy released by cavitation depends
on the kinetics of the bubble growth and collapse of the
bubbles. This energy should increase with surface ten-
sion at the bubble interface and lessen with the vapour
pressure of the liquid. In particular hydrated foods have
a comparatively high surface tension, so it can be a very
effective medium for cavitation.
Existing applications of ultrasonics in food processing
For the classification of ultrasound applications the
energy amount of the generated sound field is the most
important criterion. It is characterised by sound power
(W), sound intensity (W/m2) or sound energy density
(Ws/m3).
For the classification of applications, low and high
energy (low and high power) or synonymous low fre-
quency low amplitude, high frequency low amplitude or
low frequency high amplitude applications have been
used. Low energy ultrasound applications frequently
range at intensities lower than 1 W/cm2 and at fre-
quencies higher than 100 kHz (Mason & Luche, 1996;
Villamiel & de Jong, 2000a, 2000b). They are used suc-
cessfully for non- invasive detection (process control)
and for characterizing physicochemical properties of
food materials (product assessment or control)
(McClements, 1997; Povey & Mason, 1998; Withers,
1996). Low energy ultrasound applications include sti-
mulation of activity of living cells, surface cleaning of
foods, effects on enzymes, ultrasonically assisted extrac-
tion, crystallization, emulsification, filtration, drying
and freezing processes as well as tenderization of meat
(Behrend & Schubert, 2001; Mason & Luche, 1996).
High energy ultrasound applications are usually
found at intensities higher than 1 W/cm2 and at fre-
quencies between 18 and 100 kHz (McClements, 1995;
Povey & Mason, 1998; Villamiel & de Jong, 2000b).
High energy ultrasound has been applied for degassing
of liquid foods, for the induction of oxidation/reduction
reactions, for extraction of enzymes and proteins, for
enzyme inactivation and for the induction of nucleation
for crystallization (Roberts, 1993; Thakur & Nelson,
1997; Villamiel & de Jong, 2000a). Further, heat, pres-
sure, ultrasound combinations (manothermosonication)
have been reported to inactivate heat resistant enzymes
(Vercet, Lopez, & Burgos, 1997). Also a considerable
amount of data exists regarding the impact of ultra-
sound on the inactivation of micro-organisms in con-
junction with chemical antimicrobials (Phull, Newman,
Lorimer, Pollet, & Mason, 1997), with heat or with heat
and moderate pressure (Ciccolini, Taillandier, Wilhelm,
Delmas, & Strehaiano, 1997; Earnshaw, Appleyard, &
Hurst; Pagán, Mañas, Raso, & Condón, 1999; Sala,
Burgos, Condon, Lopez, & Raso, 1995; Villamiel & de
Jong, 2000a).
Potential of ultrasonics in food science & technology
Inactivation of micro-organisms
Model systems
Work in our laboratory using cavitation assisted
inactivation of spores via ultrasound combined with
direct steam injection resulted in higher inactivation
of Bacillus stearothermophilus spores as compared to
conventional direct heating under the same conditions
(F-values) (Zenker, Heinz, & Knorr, 2003). Based on
this work ultrasound was applied to possibly decrease
the condensation period of direct injected steam via the
combination process. The aim of the simultaneous use
of the combined effect of ultrasound and temperature
on bacterial inactivation was to reduce the temperature
and/or the process time of sterilisation processes.
Results of studies on combination effects of ultrasound
and heat treatment versus temperature treatment alone
on the inactivation of Escherichia coli K12 DH 5  also
clearly indicate improved inactivation of E. coli K12 DH
5  by the combination treatment (Fig. 1).
To study the impact of ultrasound assisted thermal
(UST) treatment of micro-organisms a prototype, pilot
scale, continuous processing unit was developed and
optimized for maximum cavitation effects resulting
from steam injection in conjunction with ultrasound
treatment (Zenkar et al., 2003).
When comparing the improved effectiveness regarding
microbial inactivation by the UST process in compar-
ison to thermal processing only (T) Lactobacillus acid-
ophilus proved more resistant to the combination
process (Fig. 1). This potential of selective inactivation
of micro-organisms would promise for pasteurisation
of fermented products (yoghurt) while retaining the
Fig. 1. Survival (A) and thermal death time curves of E. coli K12 DH
5  as well as thermal death time curves of L. acidophilus after
ultrasound (*), thermal (&) and ultrasound assisted thermal
treatments (*) (sound wave amplitude 110 mm) in phosphate
buffer (pH 7) (Zenker, Heinz, & Knorr, 2003).
 D. Knorr et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266
Table 1. Kinetic factors D60 and z48-68 for E. coli K12 DH 5  and L. acidophilus inactivation by thermal and ultrasound assisted thermal
treatment (sound wave amplitude 110 m) in the batch-type reactor (Zenker et al., 2003)
Organism E. coli K 12 DH 5  L. acidophilus
Medium Phosphate buffer Carrot juice
(ph 7.0) (pH 5.9)
Treatment T UST T UST
D60-value [s] 84.6 23.1 84.3 23.9
z48-68-value [
C] 6.9 16.3 8.7 15.3
T: conventional heating, UST: ultrasound assisted heating.
viability and activity of desirable probiotic cultures
within the products.
Real food systems
D and z-values of E. coli and L. acidophilus in differ-
ent tested media are summarised in Table 1. The differ-
ences in cell sensitivity against UST may result from the
specific impact of ultrasound on the cell wall and the
differences in the cell wall structures between the species
investigated. According to the literature differences in
cell sensitivity could be due to the more tightly adherent
layer of peptidoglucans in gram-positive cells but also
from the cell shape in particular the relationship of cell
surface and volume (Earnshaw et al., 1995). The impact
of various power settings and treatment times on the
inactivation of E. coli in liquid whole egg is presented in
Fig. 2.
Ultrasound treatments of 24.6 W resulted in one log
cycle reduction after 300 s of treatment time (Fig. 2A).
Two log cycle reductions of E. coli was achieved after
the same time of sonication if the power of ultrasound
was increased to 42.0 W. However, when the same data
were redrawn as a function of specific energy input, little
difference was seen with respect to the power of ultra-
sound (Fig. 2B).
Fig. 2. Inactivation of E. coli DH 5 in liquid whole egg (LWE) by
ultrasound treatments. Initial temperature of LWE was about 5
C.
The powers of ultrasound are as follows: -~-, 42.0 W; -&-, 34.6 W;
-*-, 24.6 W (Dong-Un, Volker, & Knorr, 2001).
263
UHT-milk Phosphate buffer Orange juice
(pH 6.7) (pH 7.0) (pH 3.7)
T UST T UST T UST
77.0 23.0 70.5 43.3 47.3 31.1
7.1 13.6 6.1 7.5 5.5 7.0
A combination of consecutive ultrasound and high
pressure treatment caused a slightly increased inactiva-
tion of E. coli, which can be attributed to the additional
effect of ultrasound. This result can most likely be
explained by the use of low temperature (5
C) to mini-
mize changes of the physico-chemical properties of the
LWE. Generally, most micro-organisms showed greater
sensitivity to ultrasound at increased temperature over
50
C (Earnshaw et al., 1995; Villamiel & de Jong,
2000a; Zenker et al., 1999). It seems noteworthy that
a combination treatment of high pressure with the
antimicrobial peptide nisin resulted in a strong syner-
gistic effect against gram positive Listeria (data not
shown).
Effect of ultrasonics on food quality indicators
Degradation of ascorbic acid in orange juice during
storage at 20
C was less after UST treatment than after
temperature treatment only (Fig. 3A). This positive
effect of ultrasound is assumed to be due to effective
degassing (oxygen removal) of the juice.
The activity of endogenous enzymes of fresh lemon
juice was effectively decreased when UST was applied
(Fig. 3B). More than 90% inactivation was shown at
80
C with ultrasonication. This method offers the pro-
mise of destabilising undesirable enzymes at short time
and moderate temperatures. Moreover, the reduction of
pectinmethylesterase activity in lemon juice resulted in
highly improved cloud stability when stored after UST
treatment for 18 days at 4
C (data not shown).
Color measurements during storage of orange juice
after heat or UST treatment indicated similar overall
changes of a and b values, but significantly lighter pro-
ducts (L-values) resulting from the UST treatment (Fig.
3C). The stabilisation in lightness can probably be
attributed to a lower enzyme activity and a lower partial
precipitation of suspended, insoluble particles in the
juice.
The effects of combined processes on the foaming
capacity of LWE are shown in Table 2. It can be seen
that the application of high pressure with previously
optimised process conditions does not affect the
foaming capacity of LWE. This maintenance of
264 D. Knorr et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266

physicochemical properties after high pressure treat-
ment was not unexpected, because the high pressure
processing conditions had been selected to minimise
rheological changes. Significant increase in foaming power
was observed by the combined process of ultrasound
and high pressure. The larger increases of foaming
power observed in the case of ultrasound-high pressure
combination might be explained by the homogenisation
effect of ultrasound. Homogenisation of ultrasound
usually disperses the protein and fat particles in LWE
more evenly, which may improve the foaming capacity
of LWE.

Table 2. Effects of combined processes on the foaming capacity of liquid whole egg (Dong-Un et al., 2001)
Process Foaming power SD* Foaming stability SD
(% Overrun) (% Stability)
Control 479 13.7 52 5.1
High pressurey 490 10.0 56 3.1
Nisin-High pressure{ 484 12.3 55 1.9
Ultrasound-High pressurex 638 14.4 50 2.6
*SD: Standard deviation.
y
300 MPa for 200 s at 5
C.
{
Combined process of nisin (10 mg/l) and high pressure.
x
Combined process of ultrasound (34.6 W for 30 s at 5
C) and high pressure.

Fig. 3. Effects of ultrasonics on food quality indicators. (A) Storage related changes of ascorbic acid in single strength orange juice at 20
C
after temperature treatment (* with regards to L. acidophilus inactivation Fig., 60
C, 36 s) and UST treatment (* 60
C, 220 s) and specific
sound energy input (96–110 kJ/kg) (Zenker et al., 2003). (B) Reduction of enzyme activity (PE=Pectinmethylesterase) in lemon juice at pH 3.5
after ultrasound assisted thermal treatment (Kuldiloke, 2002). (C) Storage time dependent color changes of single strength orange juice at
20
C after heat (*) and UST treatment (*) (Zenker et al., 2003).
 D. Knorr et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266
Utrasound induced product modification
The energy input provided by ultrasonic excitation of
metal tubes by perpendicular attachment of the sono-
trode can not only improve the flow behaviour of sticky
or highly viscous materials due to lower drag resistance
but also modify product structures. As exemplified with
raw sausages a continuous formation of an edible coat-
ing due to surface protein denaturation could be gener-
ated (Fig. 4A).
Ultrasound assisted product identification
Preliminary research activities in our laboratory have
dealt with the detection and identification of foreign
bodies in packaged foods. When applying a diagnostic
ultrasonic source (Type SONOLINE SI-400, Siemens,
GE), the ultrasound based measurement demonstrated
a good potential for quality assurance in several food
products. By using available signal processing algo-
rithms for the time-frequency analysis of the measured
ultrasound echo’s an effective detection ability for the
Fig. 4. (A) Production of ultrasound assisted coating of sausages
(Frankfurter type) (after Heinz, unpublished results). (B) Real-time
sonographical scan (A and B scan) of yoghurt with foreign bodies
packaged in a polypropylen beaker.
265
applied real-time scanning method (Figure 4B) was
found. Besides standard foreign bodies (glass, plastic
pieces etc.) also from raw material descended bodies
(e.g. pieces of kernels embedded in cherry flesh) could
be detected and identified. This result was achieved
independent of the foods tested (yoghurt, fruit juices
and tomato ketchup) as well as of the material and the
shape of the package (tin can, glass bottle, plastic
beaker).
Effects of ultrasonication on the filtration and on the
extraction of soluble solids
The potential of ultrasound in beer processing was
also analysed. Ultrasonic treatment at the beginning of
the mashing process results in enhanced mash filtration.
The increased filtrate flow occurred in the initial period
of the filtration process. Apart from a better filterability,
an increase in extraction yield was achieved by ultra-
sonic treatment. An increase of 0.5% was observed
when the mash was ultrasonicated with 48 kJ/kg
(Buckow, Virkajärvi, Heinz, & Knorr, 2001).
Conclusions
A comparison of total energy requirements for inac-
tivation of vegetative micro-organisms suggests that
ultrasound assisted thermal processing of liquid foods
can be achieved at lower temperature and can result in
further quality advantages. However, the additional
energy required for ultrasonic treatment results in an
overall higher total energy requirement for the com-
bined process (Fig. 5). It needs to be determined whe-
ther, product quality improvements resulting from UST
can justify the increased energy requirements of UST
processing. However, in regions of cheap electric energy
or non-availability of other energy sources UST pro-
cessing can generally become an attractive alternative to
Fig. 5. Comparison of total energy requirement for 2, 4, or 6 log
cycle inactivation of E. coli (A) and L. acidophilus (B) during con-
tinuous thermal and UST treatment (phosphate buffer pH 7.0,
mass-flow 26 L/h) (after Zenker et al., 2003).
266 D. Knorr et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 261–266
current thermal processing options. Liquid products
quality improvements can be achieved with ultrasound
assisted processing due to degassing of the products.
Synergistic effects between ultrasound and thermal pro-
cessing have been identified regarding microbial inacti-
vation. Product modification of solid, semi-solid, or
highly viscous materials may be achieved with low
intensity ultrasound. However, due to high energy loss
with increasing distance from the sound emitting surface
and the resultant high energy requirement for microbial
inactivation, its application may be limited to surface
treatments. Equipment improvement and design chan-
ges which are required to offer new and additional
opportunities are under way in our laboratory in con-
junction with developments of ultrasound equipment.
Acknowledgements
Parts of this work have been supported by a grant
from the German Forschungskreis der Ernährungsin-
dustrie e.V. (FEI), the AiF and the German Ministry of
Economics and Technology. (Project No: 11 395).
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