High pressure processing of foods: Introduction

The use of high hydrostatic pressure (HP) for the preservation and modifica tion of food components has experienced dramatic advances during the last d ecade. Within the European context this was made possible mainly due to mul tinational and interdisciplinary research projects sponsored by the Europea n Commission. Kinetic date exist and are being accumulated especially regar ding food safety, food quality, food functionality and shelf life stability which are essential to achieve regulatory approval of HP supported process es. This introduction to high HP will concentrate on the advantages and cha llenges of HP, provide examples of recent achievement in the reduction of m icrobial populations, present data regarding the food modification potentia l of HP and give insights into the development of pressure supported phase transitions of water in foods.