Microwave processing techniques and their recent applications in the food industry

Microwave processing techniques have been extensively used in the food industry due to its significant reduction in cooking time and energy consumption. Microwave processing technologies such as microwave drying, heating and sterilizing play a significant role in food quality and safety control. However, few reviews have been published in recent years summarizing the latest developments in the application of microwave technology in the food industry. This review focuses on recent applications of microwave processing technologies including microwave drying, heating, and sterilizing in fruit (banana, apple, olive, sour cherries, pomegranate arils, blueberries, kiwifruit, aronia, strawberry, and grape tomato), vegetables (potato, bamboo shoot, purslane leaves, onion, green bean, pumpkin, eggplant, edamame, sea tangle, garlic, kale, red cabbage, tomato, cassava, lentils, chickpea, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, jalapeño peppers, and coriander foliage), and meat products (sardine fish, restructured silver carp slices, sea cucumber, beef semitendinosus muscle, bovine supraspinatus muscle, camel longissimus dorsi muscle, foal meat, bovine gluteus medium muscle, chicken steak, mature cows semimembranosus and semitendinosus muscles, kavurma (a ready-to-eat meat product), salmon, cod, drumettes, and beef slices), changes in product quality as affected with microwave processing are discussed in details, and future directions of research are presented. Microwave drying has the advantages of low energy consumption and high efficiency as compared to conventional drying, while producing more porous structure of foods. Microwave drying usually combines with other conventional drying to enhance the quality of a food product. Compared with the traditional method, microwave heating or cooking can generally retain higher levels of bioactive components, antioxidant activity and attractive color of vegetables, while microwave cooking with water can cause a serious drop in nutrients due to leaching and thermal liability. Microwave sterilization has the capacity to completely inactivate microorganisms and effectively destroy enzyme activity, and less effect on antioxidant activity, texture and color of food products compared with conventional pasteurization.