Hydrodynamic Cavitation Technologies: A Pathway to More Sustainable, Healthier Beverages, and Food Supply Chains

The capabilities of technologies based on controlled hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) processes of enhancing energy efficiency and yield of industrial processes dealing with liquid substances is arising in several fields. Large benefits are expected for the beverage industry, where HC processes can achieve fine crushing of solid particles, food-grade microbiological safety, homogenization, removal of undesired volatile, and extraction of bioactive compounds, at a fraction of the current cost. In the application of HC processes to beer brewing, along with large advantages in terms of yield, energy efficiency, processing time, and shelf life, the chance has arisen to produce gluten-free beer starting from traditional recipes, as well as to boost the content of valuable bioactive and antioxidant compounds. As well, HC processes have been shown able to brew up to 100% raw unmalted grains, with the use of exogenous enzymes, further proving their applicability to the production of cereal-based vegetable beverages. In this chapter, it is shown that how HC-based technologies could substantially contribute to the sustainability of food supply chains, with their strengths in the acceleration of food processing steps, the reduction and valorization of waste streams, as well as in the superior efficiency in resource use, energy consumption, process yield, and exergy balance. It is argued that the combination of the urgent challenge to increase the sustainability of food supply chains, dictated by severe, intertwined threats to global economy, societies, and environment, as well as by continuing undernourishment in poor countries, and spreading of noncommunicable diseases in more affluent countries, along with the respective socioeconomic burdens, concur to make potential technological breakthroughs, such as promised by the emerging HC-based technologies, quite attractive, with their potential to transform the food processing sector and, consequently, the food supply chains and the quality of the human diets, toward advanced sustainability targets.