Pressure-assisted thermal sterilization of soup

The overall efficiency of an existing scale-up pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) unit was investigated with regards to inactivation of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores suspended in pumpkin soup. The PATS unit is a double pipe heat exchanger in which the soup is pumped into its inner high pressure tube and constrained by two high pressure valves, while steam is continuously passed through the annular region to heat the content. The technology is based on pressure generation by thermal expansion of the liquid in an enclosure. In this work, the addition of an air line to push the treated liquid food out of the existing PATS unit has improved the overall quality of the treated samples, as evidenced by achieving higher log reduction of the spores. Compared with thermal processing, the application of PATS shows the potential for lowering the thermal treatment temperature, offering improved food quality.