Microfluidization: A promising food processing technology and its challenges in industrial application

Microfluidization, as one of the homogenization and emulsification techniques, has been widely applied in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries over the past decades. However, most of the researches on microfluidization technology in food field is still in the laboratory research stage, and its application in actual industrial processing is rarely reported, indicating that there exists a gap between theoretical research and actual industrial application. This article reviews the main functions of microfluidization technology in food field reported in the literature, including preparation of delivery systems, inactivation of microorganisms and enzymes, assisted extraction of bioactive substances, and processing of some real food systems. The preliminary research of an innovatively developed industrial-scale microfluidizer system is also introduced. Based on the problems encountered in the literature research and actual development of microfluidization machine, the limitations in industrial application and challenges in the future development of microfluidization technology are discussed.