SONOCHEMISTRY

ELSEVIER Ultrasonics Sonochemistry3 (1996) $253-$260

The uses of ultrasound in food technology

T . J . M a s o n *, L. P a n i w n y k , J . P . L o r i m e r
Sonochemistry Centre, School of Natural and Environmental Studies, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Received22 January 1996

Abstract

The same physical and mechanical effects which have been utilised in sonochemistry, i.e. strong shear forces, particle
fragmentation, increased mass and heat transfer, nucleation of seeding, have been applied to food processing. Examples are
quoted from various applications where power ultrasound has been used to influence the development of living cells, improve
sterilisation and effect enzyme activity. Typically ultrasound can be used as a processing aid in extraction, crystallisation, freezing,
emulsification, filtration and drying.

Keywords: Ultrasound; Food; Sonochemistry

1. Introduction More recently the interest of food technologists has

turned to the use of power ultrasound in processing.
The use of ultrasound within the food industry has
been a subject of research and development for many
years and, as is the case in other areas, the sound ranges 2. Low frequency power ultrasound
employed can be divided basically into high frequency,
low energy, diagnostic ultrasound in the MHz range and In this case the mechanical and chemical effects of
low frequency, high energy, power ultrasound in the kHz cavitation are important and applications are very wide
range. Up to a few years ago the majority of applications ranging. Herein a selection of these topics will be
and developments involved non-invasive analysis with reviewed as identified in Table 1.
particular reference to food quality assessment, e.g. by
monitoring the attenuation of an ultrasound pulse it has 2.1. Effect on living cells: stimulation of activity
proved possible to determine the degree of homogenis-
ation of fat within milk [ 1]. The degree of emulsification There are a number of examples of the use of ultra-
in such materials can also be estimated by the measure- sound to increase the production of food products
ment of ultrasound velocity in conjunction with attenua- through the enhancement of efficiency of whole cells
tion [2]. It is possible to determine factors such as the
degree of 'creaming' (or 'settling') of a sample, i.e. the Table 1
movement of solid particles/fat droplets to the surface Power ultrasound in food technology
(or to the base) [3]. Such information gives details, for
example, of the long term stability of fruit juices and Effect on living cells Stimulation of activity
Sonochemical destruction
the stability of emulsions such as mayonnaise. The Effect on enzymes Stimulation of activity
combination of velocity and attenuation measurements Controlled denaturing
shows promise as a method for the analysis of edible Effect of 'jet' impact on surface Improved impregnation
fats and oils [4] and for the determination of the extent Improved extraction
of crystallisation and melting in dispersed emulsion Miscellaneous applications Meat processing
Crystallization and freezing
droplets [5]. Emulsification
Filtration and drying
Rice grain treatment
* Corresponding author. Fax: +44-1203-838173.

1350-4177/96/$15.00Copyright© 1996ElsevierScienceB.V. All rights reserved

PII S1350-4177(96)00034-X
s 254 T.J. Mason et al./Ultrasonics Sonochemistrv 3 (1996) $253-$260
without disrupting the cell walls. A simple example of
this is in the use of low power ultrasonic activation of
a liquid nutrient media to enhance the rate of growth
of algal cells. Essentially this results in an increase in
the production of protein (up to three-fold) and repre-
sents a real possibility for the production of food
materials from unusual sources for human or animal
consumption [6].
The production of yoghurt is an important process in
the food industry. Recent investigations have shown
that the use of ultrasound as a processing aid can lead
to a total reduction in production time of up to 40%
[7]. A very important finding in this work was that
sonication reduced the normal dependence of the process
on the origin of milk. Further, it appeared to improve
both the consistency and the texture of the product.
A remarkable influence of ultrasound on fish egg
hatching has been reported [8]. The eggs were exposed
to ultrasound of frequency 1 MHz for 35 min, three
times a day and this led to a reduction in hatch time
for loach from 72 to 60 h. This, in itself, is of consider-
able potential industrial importance for fish-farming but
there were two other benefits of ultrasonic treatment. It
was found that the ultrasound increased the fraction of
the eggs which hatched and further that, once hatched,
the fish had a higher survival rate.
Ultrasonically stimulated seed germination offers the
possibility of increased productivity for large scale farm
crops and in more general horticulture. Agricultural
crop yields are dependent on the quality of the plant
variety and on the percentage seed germination and
growth. There are several reports in the literature which
suggest that ultrasonic treatment of seeds before sowing
is an effective method of improving crop yield. Normally
this involves treatment of the seeds suspended in water
which assists in the breaking of dormancy. In this way
substantial reductions in the germination times of bean
[9] and rice [10] have been achieved. Another report
suggests that a 10 min aqueous ultrasonic treatment of
lotus seeds at 0.7 W cm -2 produced a 30% improvement
in germination [ 11 ].
More recent Russian studies have applied sonication
under dry conditions which may be carried out up to
several months before actual sowing [12]. The subse-
quent handling and packaging of the seeds is perfectly
conventional with no special precautions required. The
treatment unit itself uses ultrasonic equipment operating
at 20 kHz with a vibrational amplitude of between 1
and 40 ~tm and is able to handle up to 600 kg h - 1 with
the possibility of installation in a continuous packing
line. Amongst several examples, ultrasonic treatment
has been found to lead to a three-fold enhancement in
sunflower seed germination in soil and a 10 day reduc-
tion in the ripening time of tomatoes.
The general prospects for this type of technology are
very good. Apart from offering improvements in germi-
nation, initial growth rate and reduced ripening times it
is also a rival to chemical treatments and could lead to
clean 'organic' farming.
2.2. Effect on living cells': sonochemical destruction
One of the major long-established industrial applica-
tions of power ultrasound is for cleaning and it has
proved to be an extremely efficient technology.
Ultrasound is particularly useful in surface decontami-
nation where the inrush of fluid which accompanies
cavitational collapse near a surface is non-symmetric.
This powerful jet will dislodge dirt and bacteria from
surfaces. The particular advantage of ultrasonic cleaning
in this context is that it can reach crevices that are not
easily reached by conventional cleaning methods.
Indeed, a general patent has been applied for pertaining
to the use of ultrasound as a method of pasteurisation,
sterilisation and decontamination of instruments and
surfaces used within the medical, surgical, dental and
food processing industries [13]. One recent example of
surface cleaning in food technology is the use of a
combination of a bactericide and ultrasound to decon-
taminate hatchery eggs [14]. In hatcheries the eggs are
normally laid 'clean' but a number (some 10%) have
surface contamination having been laid outside of the
nest. Dirty eggs are normally removed from the hatchery
because the egg shells are porous and contamination
will penetrate to the inside and kill the developing
embryo. The result of this is that these eggs explode
after about 10 days. Ultrasonically assisted cleaning
produces decontamination of 'clean' eggs which is more
efficient than the currently used spraying or gassing
technique and, more significantly, a decontamination of
the 'dirty' eggs which allows them to be used in the
hatchery.
High power ultrasound alone is known to damage or
disrupt biological cell walls which will result in the
destruction of living cells. Unfortunately very high inten-
sities are required if ultrasound alone is to be used for
complete sterilisation. However, as in the above exam-
ple, ultrasound can be employed in conjunction with
another technique (e.g., a bactericide) for the destruction
of micro-organisms. It can also be used to enhance the
sterilisation provided by heat treatment. The first report
on the synergy between ultrasound and heat as a mecha-
nism for killing bacteria was published in 1987 by
Ordonez [15] and was concerned with the vegetative
bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. This report was fol-
lowed by a further paper from the same group in 1989
[16] which showed the benefits of thermosonication (a
term now given to the combined application of heat and
ultrasound) of Bacillus subtilis spores. When ultrasound
was applied at moderate temperatures, below those used
in pasteurisation, to brain/heart infusion contaminated
with Salmonella typhimurium a reduction of contamina-
 T.J. Mason et aL/Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253-$260
tion of 99% was observed [17]. Reductions in contami-
nation were also observed in the similar treatment of
skimmed milk. The enhancement to the efficiency of the
process induced by sonication decreased as temperature
increased. The treatment produced a substantial
improvement in time using a small scale reactor operat-
ing at 2 0 k H z and 150 W. Subsequent (but as yet
unpublished) work has shown that the effect also extends
to the inactivation of food enzymes.
These findings are very significant to the food and
other industries which operate processes to sterilise or
pasteurise fluids with heat. It can be envisaged that
process times and/or temperatures could be reduced to
achieve the same lethality values.
2.3. Effect on enzymes
One of the original uses of power ultrasound in
biochemistry was to break down biological cell walls to
liberate the contents (indeed many ultrasonic horn sys-
tems were first marketed as cell disruptors).
Subsequently it has been shown that the same power
ultrasound can be used to produce a positive effect on
enzyme activity, although if the intensity is too high the
enzymes can be denatured.
A fruitful area of research has been the sonochemical
activation of immobilised enzymes where ultrasound
appears to be particularly useful in increasing the trans-
port of substrate to the enzyme. Using cz-chymotrypsin
(on agarose gel) and casein as substrate a two-fold
increase in activity was observed at 20 kHz [18]. Here
the origin of the enhancement was thought to be associ-
ated with increased penetration of the casein into the
support gel induced by cavitational effects close to the
50
P
8
r 40
o
x
i
d
a
s
30
e
A
~ 2o
i
v
i
t 10
Y
30 60
I No pre-treatment --Pre-treated with ultrasound I
Fig. 1. Peroxidaseactivity reduced by sonication.
$255
surface. However, an increase in the activity of
s-amylase (on porous polystyrene) was produced on
irradiation with 7 MHz ultrasound [19]. This is a very
significant result since at this high frequency cavitation
cannot occur and so, in this case, the increased activity
is thought to be associated with greater microstreaming
of reagents to the surface.
It has been known for many years that ultrasound
can be employed as a method of inhibiting enzyme
activity. Nearly 60 years ago Chambers reported that
pure pepsin was inactivated by sonication probably as
a result of cavitation [20]. Peroxidase, which is found
in most raw and unblanched fruit and vegetables, is
particularly associated with the development of off-
flavours and brown pigments. The effect of ultrasound
(20 kHz) on peroxidase:sigma-P8000 dissolved in 0.1 M
potassium phosphate at 20°C buffer pH 7 has been
reported (Fig. 1 ) [21 ]. The original activity of peroxidase
was progressively reduced by 90% as ultrasound was
applied over a 3 h period.
2.4. Ultrasonically assisted extraction processes
The classical techniques for the solvent extraction of
materials from vegetable sources are based upon the
correct choice of solvent coupled with the use of heat
and/or agitation. The extraction of organic compounds
contained within the body of plants and seeds by a
solvent is significantly improved by the use of power
ultrasound. The mechanical effects of ultrasound pro-
vide a greater penetration of solvent into cellular materi-
als and improves mass transfer. There is an additional
benefit for the use of power ultrasound in extractive
processes which results from the disruption of biological
90 120 150 180
Sonication time of solutions (min)
$256 72J, Mason et aL /Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253 $260

Clio
/

HOCH2~/0 0
/

HO~/"~OH
0H

COMMERCIAL PROCESS: reflux (80°C) 2h in aqueous ethanol

SONOCHEMICAL P R O C E S S : 4o°C for lh in same solvent
Fig. 2. Isolation of helicid from dried seed.

cell walls to facilitate the release of contents. This has [27]. The effectiveness of ultrasonic extraction is greater
been shown in a study of the rate of ultrasonic extraction than normal thermal extraction and the time taken is
of sugar from sugar beet [22]. Combined with this effect reduced, the majority of material is extracted in the first
is enhanced mass transfer, due to the effects of micro- 10 min of sonication.
streaming which results in a more efficient method for An increase in the yield of the enzyme rennin from
sugar extraction. Ultrasonically assisted extraction can calf stomachs has been achieved using ultrasound [28].
also be applied to the production of medicinal com- Rennin is an important material used in the production
pounds such as helicid, berberine hydrochloride and of cheese from milk and, surprisingly, the activity of the
bergenin from Chinese plants (Fig. 2) [23]. In some ultrasonic extract was found to be slightly increased
cases sonication increased the efficiency of extraction at compared with normal methodology.
lower temperatures producing a purer product in a
shorter time. Thus helicid, which is normally extracted
2.5. Ultrasound in the processing of meat products
by refluxing in ethanol, can be obtained in a 50% higher
yield in half the extraction time at room temperature
Closely linked with extraction is the methodology
using ultrasound. Once again efficient cell disruption
employed for the production of processed meats.
and effective mass transfer are cited as the major factors
Generally this involves tumbling the meat particles with
leading to this enhancement.
an aqueous liquor containing salt. Ultrasound assists
Protein extraction from defatted soya beans was
the process by disrupting the meat myofibrils which
studied by Wang [24,25]. A continuous process was
releases a sticky exudate and this binds the meat together
developed where sonication of the slurry by a 550 W
and leads to an increase in the strength of the reformed
probe operating at a 20 kHz frequency resulted in an
product. The binding strength, water holding capacity,
efficient extraction which exceeded any previously avail-
product colour and yields were examined after treatment
able technology. This was scaled up to pilot plant for
either with salt tumbling, sonication or both. Samples
the extraction of soya bean protein [26].
which received both salt treatment and sonication were
The extraction of tea solids from leaves is commer-
superior in all qualities [29]. Similar results were
cially important because it is the starting point for the
obtained from a study of the effect of sonication on
production of instant tea. Instant tea is a powder derived
cured roiled ham [30].
from pure tea infusion from which water has been
A traditional method of tenderisation of meat is by
removed by spray drying. The use of ultrasound
mechanical pounding which makes poorer quality meat
improves extraction at 60°C by nearly 20% (Table 2)
more palatable. Sonication of steak has also been found
to be useful in the tenderisation process. In a pilot study
Table 2
Ultrasonic extraction of tea solids
involving sirloin steak the connective tissues were clearly
seen to be reduced when the meat had been subjected
Extraction conditions Solids extracted (% by mass) to treatment at room temperature at 40 kHz using
2 W cm -2 for 2 h [3l].
Heat at 100°C 38
Heat at 60°C 28
Sonicate at 60°C 33 2.6. Ultrasonically assisted crystallisation and freezing
Sonicate at 600C then raise to 100°C 40

Treat mixture for 10 rain, 20 kHz horn, filter and evaporate to Power ultrasound has proved to be extremely useful
dryness. Tea leaf concentration 5 g in 100 g water. in crystallisation processes. It serves a number of roles
 T.J. Mason et al./Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253 $260
in the initiation of seeding and subsequent crystal forma-
tion and growth. It also has a secondary property which
is beneficial in such processing applications namely that
the cleaning action of the cavitation effectively stops the
encrustation of crystals on cooling elements and thereby
ensures continuous efficient heat transfer.
It has been reported that ultrasound can be used to
clarify wines through the precipitation of potassium
bi-tartrate [32]. The treatment reduces the precipitation
time from 4-10 days to 1.5 2 h. The texture of food
products will be affected by the size of undissolved sugar
crystals dispersed in the material. Size will also affect
the rate of dissolution of sugar in food preparation. For
these reasons the control of sugar crystallite size is
important. Normal crystallisation of sugar from concen-
trated sucrose solutions leads to large uneven sized
crystals which can be broken down by subsequent
sonication [33]. This does not however offer a realistic
alternative to conventional practise. The alternative
method of subjecting the strong mother liquor, typically
70 80% sucrose, to sonication during cooling does not
appear to have been reported. Nevertheless, should
sonically induced crystallisation become a viable possi-
bility then scale-up equipment has been designed. A US
patent describes a unit which was operated successfully
some years ago in the production of a crystalline drug
[34]. In this design the ultrasound, introduced through
an array of horns at the base of the vessel, serves two
purposes. Firstly, the saturated liquid is ultrasonically
seeded as it enters the bottom. The small seeds rise with
the liquid flow and continue to grow and then become
large enough to start to sink under the influence of
gravity. Large crystals are then fragmented as they
approach the ultrasonic sources and rise again providing
large numbers of fragments which themselves act as
seeds.
One very important area related to crystallisation in
the food industry is the formation of ice crystals during
the freezing of water. The quality of 'fresh' thawed
foods preserved through freezing can be somewhat
disappointing in terms of texture. This is particularly
true of soft fruits such as strawberries. The problem
arises because the small ice crystals which are formed
initially inside of the cellular material of the food
continue to grow. As these crystals increase in size they
break some of the cell walls leading to a partial destruc-
tion of the structure of the material. There is a consider-
able 'dwell time' between the initiation of crystallisation
(usually at about - 3 °C) and complete freezing at which
point the temperature of the whole item can fall (Fig. 3).
Under the influence of ultrasound a much more rapid
and even seeding occurs and this leads to a much shorter
dwell time. In addition, since there are a greater number
of seeds the final size of the ice crystals is smaller and
cell damage is reduced [35]. In a somewhat related field
the effect of ultrasound on the production of ice lollipops
$257
10-
\
e
m V
Normal cooling
P
0
\ . . . . .
C
with ultrasound
\
\
-10 \
Time ~,
Fig. 3. Ultrasound in food freezing.
has been investigated [21]. Sonication generates ice
crystals of a significantly reduced size with a more even
distribution through the solid. This gives rise to a
lollipop which is much harder than the conventional
product which makes it less customer friendly in that it
is far less easy to bite. A true advantage however seems
to be that it adheres much more strongly to its support-
ing wooden stick.
2. 7. Ultrasonic emulsification
One of the earliest uses of power ultrasound in
processing was in emulsification. If a bubble collapses
near the phase boundary of two immiscible liquids the
resultant shock wave can provide a very efficient mixing
of the layers. Stable emulsions generated with ultrasound
have been used in the textile, cosmetic, pharmaceutical
and food industries. Such emulsions are often more
stable than those produced conventionally and often
require little, if any, surfactant. Emulsions with smaller
droplet sizes within a narrow size distribution are
obtained, when compared to other methods.
A type of mechanical transducer which is used mainly
for homogenisation and emulsification is the 'liquid
whistle' (Fig. 4) [36]. As its name implies this is a device
for converting fluid motion into sound rather than the
more conventional whistle which operates on gas
motion. If a liquid is forced rapidly from a jet across a
clamped thin metal blade the blade is caused to vibrate
with a frequency dependent on the flow rate. The flow
is adjusted to obtain ultrasonic frequencies and under
these circumstances the liquid undergoes cavitation as
it passes across the blade. When a mixture of immiscible
liquids is forced across the blade of the liquid whistle
the resulting cavitational mixing produces extremely
efficient homogenisation. Liquid whistle devices differ
markedly from the more common sources of ultrasound
(baths and probes) in that they derive their power from
the medium (by mechanical flow across the blade) rather
than by the transfer of energy from an external source
to the medium.
$258 T.J. Mason et al./Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253 $260
heterogene
liquid in
Fig. 4. Liquid whistle homogeniser.
In 1960 a series of experiments was undertaken to
compare four methods then in c o m m o n usage for the
emulsification of mineral oil, peanut oil and safflower
oil [37]. The results proved that a homogeniser, which
operated via a liquid whistle, was superior to three other
types of apparatus, namely a colloidal mill and two
types of sonicator, one of which employed a quartz
crystal and the other a barium titanate transducer.
The hydrolysis of wool wax and the subsequent
refining of wool wax alcohols provides an excellent
example of the use of a laboratory liquid whistle reactor
[38]. Generally it is with liquid-liquid reactions involv-
ing phase transfer catalysts that the full benefit of
ultrasonic homogenisers becomes evident. Sonication
produces homogenisation, i.e. very fine emulsions, which
greatly increase the reactive interfacial area and allows
faster reaction at lower temperatures. The products
obtained using this technique were in higher yield than
obtained using a conventional hydrolysis and, perhaps
of even more importance, the alcohols were cleaner and
less coloured. This indicates that the ultrasonic method
leads to less decomposition (Fig. 5).
An obvious benefit of the liquid whistle for emulsifi-
cation is that it can be used for flow processing and can
be installed 'on-line'. In this way volumes up to 12 000
1/h can be processed as is the case in the manufacture
of such items as fruit juices, tomato ketchup and
mayonnaise.
2.8. Ultrasonically assisted filtration and drying
The requirement to remove suspensions of solids from
liquids is c o m m o n to m a n y industries including chemi-
cal, engineering as well as food. This separation can be
either for the production of solids-free liquid or to
WOO1 w a x esters
hot aqueous ethanol
], wool wax alcohols + sodium soaps
NaOH / aliquat
Fig. 5. Sonochemical hydrolysis of wool wax esters.
homogenised
mixture out
stainless steel
q[ block
thin metal
blade
isolate the solid from its mother liquors. Ultrasonic
filtration of particulate matter from a liquid is now
arousing some interest since the rate of flow through a
filter can be increased substantially on application of
ultrasound.
Conventionally membranes of various sorts have been
employed ranging from the simple filter pad through
semi-permeable osmotic type membranes to those which
are used on a size-exclusion principle for the purification
of polymeric materials. Unfortunately the conventional
methodologies often lead to 'clogged' filters and, as a
consequence, there will always be the need to replace
filters on a regular basis. There are two specific effects
of ultrasonic irradiation which can be harnessed to
improve the filtration technique: (i) sonication will cause
agglomeration of fine particles (i.e. more rapid filtra-
tion), yet (ii) will supply sufficient vibrational energy to
the system to keep the particles partly suspended and
therefore leave more free 'channels' for solvent elution.
The combined influence of these effects has been
successfully employed to enhance vacuum filtration of
industrial mixtures such as coal slurry, which is a
particularly time consuming and difficult process [39].
With the application of ultrasound to filtration, known
as 'acoustic filtration', the moisture content of slurry
containing 50% water can be rapidly reduced to 25%,
whereas conventional filtration achieves a limit of only
40% (Table 3). Since coal slurry is combustible at 30%
moisture content, the potential for this process is clearly
Table 3
Improved belt filtration using ultrasound
Material Initial moisture Moisture % after Moisture % after
content (%) normalbelt filter acoustic belt filter
Coal slurry 50 40 25
Paper pulp > 80 70 60
Peat > 90 80 48
Starch slurry 85 55 44
 T.J. Mason et al./Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253-$260 $259

Table 4 Table 5
Sonically improved throughput of rotary drying unit Effect of sonication on the gel time of rice

Material for Initial Target final Increased throughput Type of rice Normal gel Gel time Acoustic
drying water % moisture % due to ultrasound time at 80°C after sonication power

Orange crystals 3.5 1.8 375 White rice 15 rain Very fast 0.35 W/ml
Grated cheese 16.8 5.9 40 Brown rice 25 rain 5 min 0.7 W/ml
Gelatin beads 12.9 3.7 83.3
Rice grains 27.6 14.5 122.2 50 g rice in 100 ml water, pre-sonicated 10 rain at room temperature.

Sound frequency 10.9 kHz at 169 dB.

enormous when applied to a continuous belt drying
process. An improvement on the acoustic method has
been developed in which an electrical potential is applied
across the slurry mixture while acoustic filtration is
performed [40]. The filter itself is made the cathode
while the anode, on the top of the slurry, functions as
a source of attraction for the predominantly negatively
charged particulate material. The additional mobility
introduced by the electric charge 'electro-acoustic filtra-
tion' increases the efficiency of drying of 50% coal slurry
by a further 10%. When applied to fruit extracts and
drinks this technique has been used to increase the apple
juice extracted from pulp. Where conventional belt
vacuum filtration achieves a reduction in moisture
content from an initial value of 85% to 50% electro-
acoustic technology achieved 38% a result with obvious
commercial significance.
Acoustic drying is of potentially great commercial
importance. Ultrasonically enhanced drying can be car-
ried out at lower temperatures than conventional meth-
odology which reduces the probability of oxidation or
degradation in the material. Additionally unlike high
velocity gas drying the material is not blown about or
damaged. In 1964 Soloff reported a study of acoustic
drying of a number of materials using a rotary drier
with a sonic source of 169 dB at 10.9 kHz [41]. The
comparative results in terms of increased throughput
due to the application of sonics is shown in Table 4.
Ultrasound can be employed to increase the rate of
heat transfer between a solid heated surface and a liquid,
a process of critical importance in drying [42]. The
ultrasound can either be introduced to the liquid itself
or by vibrating the solid heated surface. It is thought
that cavitation aids in the disruption of the boundary
layer and as the temperature of the liquid increases the
cavitation threshold is reduced. Heat transfer is
increased by approximately 30 60%.
2.9. Effect of sonication on rice grains
When particles of material in a liquid suspension are
subjected to sonication a number of physical and
mechanical effects can result. Large particles are subject
to surface erosion (via cavitational collapse in the sur-
rounding liquid) or particle size reduction (due to fission
through interparticle collision or the collapse of cavita-
tion bubbles formed on the surface). In chemistry these
effects have been harnessed to produce active catalysts
from poor starting materials. Thus 3 gm nickel which is
a poor catalyst in hydrogenation can be made quite
efficient by sonication in ethanol before being used in
the hydrogenation of oct-l-ene [43]. The reason for this
increase in activity is undoubtedly the removal of the
passivating outer oxide layer [44]. Recent studies on the

(a) (b)
(a) as supplied
(b) 5 minute sonication
(c) 10 minutes sonication
50g rice in lOOmt water, 20kHz, 0.4 W/ml

(c)
Fig. 6. Effect of sonication on white rice.
$260 72J. Mason et al./Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 3 (1996) $253-$260
effect of sonication on suspended powders have shown
that the particles can be forced into such violent collision
that, in the case of metals, fusion can occur [45,46]. In
some cases the colliding powders undergo chemical
reaction. Thus when copper and sulphur are sonicated
together in hexane for 1 h, 65% CuzS is generated [47].
If the particles subjected to sonication are rice grains
in water then some destruction of the surface 'shell' and
grain fragmentation would be anticipated. Both of these
effects would result in a faster release of starch during
cooking leading to a shorter period to form a gel. We
have investigated the effect of low power ultrasound on
white and brown rice in terms of both surface effects
(by optical microscopy) and reduced cooking time
(through gel formation at 80°C) [48]. In the case of
white rice the surface abrasion is seen where the inner
starch is revealed as lighter coloured parts of the grain
(Fig. 6b). This is followed by fragmentation after 10
min treatment (Fig. 6c). These results are confirmed by
the reduced gel times observed (Table 5). Similar trends
were observed with brown rice although in this case the
harder shell reduced the effects of sonication.
3. Conclusion
The use of ultrasound in processing creates novel and
interesting methodologies which are often complemen-
tary to classical techniques. It has proved particularly
useful in sterilisation, extraction, freezing and filtration
providing reduced processing times and increased effi-
ciency. Current studies have identified a number of other
areas including the stimulation of living cells and
enzymes, improved processing of reformed meat and
grain treatment. There is wide scope for further research
into the use of ultrasound in food processing both from
an industrial and academic viewpoint.
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