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Abstract
The phase diagram of water as a function of temperature and pressure delimits distinct crystalline ice forms with different specific volumes, melting temperatures, and latent heats of fusion. The melting temperature of ice I decreases to −22°C when pressure increases to 207.5 MPa. It is possible to freeze a biological or food sample under pressure (obtaining ice I, III, V, VI, or VII), to enhance ice nucleation by fast pressure release, to keep a sample at subzero temperatures without ice crystal formation, to generate pressure through freezing, to reach the glassy state of water by fast cooling under pressure, or to thaw a frozen sample under pressure below 0°C. Fast pressure release from −10 or −20°C and 100 or 200 MPa (with a prior cooling step under pressure), called “pressure-shift freezing,” induces significant supercooling (as detected by fast data acquisition) and enhances uniform ice nucleation throughout the sample. When freezing is then completed at atmospheric pressure, different microscopy techniques reveal numerous small ice crystals with no specific orientation or marked size gradient. Crystals are smaller in pressure-shift frozen gels than in similarly frozen oil-in-water emulsions. In the latter, increasing solute concentrations in the aqueous phase tends to reduce ice crystal size. Modeling is proposed for pressure-shift freezing, although the supercooling and nucleation steps are not taken into account. Both freezing under various pressure levels and pressure-shift freezing are reported for gels (mainly heat-induced protein gels), emulsions, and plant and animal tissues. In spite of some discrepancies, gel or tissue structure and texture are generally better maintained after thawing, as compared to control samples frozen by air blast or immersion in a cooling medium at 0.1 MPa. Less liquid exudation is also observed. However, some protein denaturation is detected (unfolding of myofibrillar proteins, toughening of meat or seafood), especially when the initial cooling step is carried out at a high pressure level for a long time. Pressure application at subzero temperature is found to inactivate only some enzymes, but causes a significant degree of microbial inactivation for several species of micro-organisms. Freezing gels or vegetables under pressure with the formation of ice III, V, or VI appears to maintain tissue structure and texture, but the mechanisms for these effects are not fully understood. Pressure-assisted thawing markedly enhances the rate of thawing, mainly due to a greater ΔT between the subzero thawing temperature and that of the heating medium. Specific packaging and equipment requirements for pressure-assisted freezing and thawing are discussed. Suggestions are made for further studies on high pressure–subzero temperature treatments, such as the influence of sample size and composition; the effects on cell membranes; the reduced need for blanching before freezing; the viability of pressure-shift frozen cells, embryos, or organs; the mechanisms of protein denaturation; and texture-promoting effects, especially in ice creams.
