Modelling approaches to ozone processing of liquid foods

The approval of ozone as a direct additive to food by the US FDA has resulted in new applications of ozonation in liquid food preservation. However the behaviour of ozone within liquid systems is complex. Therefore to optimise ozonation processes, an understanding of the parameters governing mass transfer between the gas and the liquid in bubble column is required. This paper reviews the chemical reactions which occur between ozone and fluid food systems, and the kinetic models which can be employed to describe the degradation of food quality and nutritional parameters. The proposed mechanisms of microbial inactivation are also discussed along with potential models to describe ozone inactivation kinetics.