Extraction from Food and Natural Products by Moderate Electric Field: Mechanisms, Benefits, and Potential Industrial Applications

Several extraction techniques have been proposed recently as the food industry is seeking alternatives to tedious classical methods. Moderate electric field (MEF) extraction at low and high temperatures offers several advantages such as enhancing product quantity and quality as well as saving time and energy. This method has gained interest as a preferred extraction technique among researchers. This review is devoted to introducing the principles, mechanisms, and recent progress in the MEF extraction technique. The parameters influencing MEF treatment are also discussed and performances are compared to conventional extraction methods. Considerations for industrial development of MEF as well as its drawbacks are also discussed. MEF extraction is applicable to a wide range of food materials and offers several benefits such as reducing extraction time and energy and also enhancing the extract's quality and yield. Optimizing process parameters, such as treatment time and temperature, electric field intensity, and frequency, along with raw material selection and preparation can boost the performance of a MEF system. Further investigations on safety and sustainability of this novel technique are required prior to commercial applications.