5. Application study

5.1 Fruits, vegetables

Within this sector, high-pressure homogenization is mainly used in the manufacture of juices and sauces (ketchup, tomato sauce), where it enables cellulose to be reduced in size and dispersed very finely to stabilize the pulp. The operation also disperses and stabilizes insoluble essential oils to prevent the formation of an oily neck in the bottle.

Homogenization facilitates the breakdown of cellulose fibers into fibrils, which increases hydration. For example, in ketchup (a dispersion of plant fibers including cellulose), homogenization aims to structure the product so as to increase viscosity and increase the amount of water absorbed. To achieve this, homogenization seeks to form fibrils at the ends of the cellulose fibers without reducing...