Hiperbaric Announces Finalists for HPP Research Awards 2024

International Jury Selects Top Research Papers on High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology for the food and beverage industry

MIAMI, June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hiperbaric, the global leader and manufacturer of high pressure processing (HPP) equipment, today announced the three finalists for its HPP Research Awards. The awards recognize outstanding published research by students, postdoctoral researchers, and young professionals focused on the innovative application of HPP technology in the food industry.

HPP is a nonthermal food preservation technology that uses cold water and high pressure to inactivate food-borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. The process maintains nutritional integrity and taste and significantly increases shelf life without the need for preservatives.

"We are thrilled to honor these gifted researchers for their groundbreaking work exploring the potential of HPP," said Carole Tonello, VP of Business Development at Hiperbaric. "Their studies showcase the breadth of HPP applications and its power to create highly nutritious, safe and delicious food products."

An International Jury of HPP Experts

The finalists were selected by a prestigious international jury featuring:

• Carole Tonello, Ph.D. - VP of Business Development at Hiperbaric (Spain)
• Kai Knoerzer, Ph.D. - Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO (Australia)
• Ann Charles Vegdahl, Ph.D. - Extension Associate at Cornell University (USA)

This esteemed panel reviewed numerous submissions from Asia, the Americas and Europe. Criteria included scientific merit, relevance to the food industry, innovation, practical application and quality of the abstracts.

The 2024 HPP Research Awards Finalists

• Berta Torrents, IRTA (Spain) - "Meta-analysis of the microbial inactivation in high pressure treated fruit and vegetable juices and purees"

"Our research provides a useful tool for food manufacturers to set and validate the HPP parameters. The hazard control decision support system (HC-DSS) prototype we developed allows food business operators to easily determine the time and pressure levels needed to achieve sufficient pathogen inactivation or to assess the efficacy of HPP to inactivate vegetative pathogens for their specific fruit and vegetable products. "

• Melisa Donda, Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Argentina) - "High pressure processing of fruit smoothies enriched with dietary fiber from carrot discards: Effects on the contents and bioaccessibilities of carotenoids and vitamin E"

"This research demonstrates that HPP can increase the extractability and bioaccessibility of essential micronutrients from fruits necessary for life, health promotion and disease prevention. This provides an incentive for fruit beverage companies to adopt a circular economy approach, as HPP extends the shelf life of a functional smoothie formulation enriched with dietary fibers that are recovered from food processing by-products."

• Meghan McGillin, Cornell University (USA) - "Selective survival of protective cultures during high pressure processing by leveraging freeze-drying and encapsulation"

"Our work presents a promising solution to the microbial limitations of HPP. Specifically, we demonstrated that protective cultures can selectively survive HPP treatment when encapsulated in cocoa butter. This survival adds the secondary hurdle needed to target HPP-resistant pathogens and spoilage microbes. More broadly, this breakthrough can help food manufacturers incorporate desired functional cultures into HPP-treated products, such as fermented and probiotic foods."

Awards Ceremony at HPP Innovation Week 2024

The three finalists will present their research and winners will be announced at the HPP Research Awards Ceremony on June 19 during Hiperbaric's HPP Innovation Week 2024 online conference. The ceremony is a highlight of this annual event exploring the latest HPP innovations, applications and research.

In addition to cash prizes, winners will have the opportunity to further showcase their work through Hiperbaric's website and media channels.

For more information and to register for HPP Innovation Week, visit bit.ly/HPP-IW-2024. 

About Hiperbaric

Hiperbaric is the world's leading supplier of high pressure processing (HPP) equipment for the food industry.

Since its inception in 1999, Hiperbaric has designed, developed, produced and marketed the highest quality high pressure processing equipment internationally. The company is recognized for its reliability, customer support, teamwork and continuous effort in R&D.

Hundreds of companies worldwide use Hiperbaric equipment for the processing of juices and beverages, meat, fish and shellfish, fruits and vegetables, dairy and prepared dishes. A highly versatile technology, HPP can be applied to a wide range of foods.

With world headquarters in Spain, the company also has offices in Miami, FL, USA and Shanghai, China, and technical offices in Mexico and Oceania.

For more information, visit: www.hiperbaric.com.

For further information, please contact:
Anthony Zapata
Business Development Manager
[email protected]
Mobile: +1 (305) 746-0209

SOURCE Hiperbaric