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Food processing has become an important component of food security around the globe. It has emerged as a fascinating field of science that directly influences global development and sustenance. For developing agrarian societies worldwide like India, food processing is the backbone of the economy. However, most of the time, cultivators have been deprived of the best price for their produce in this category of countries due to a lack of food processing awareness and infrastructure. This is even though the onus of the burgeoning world population is on these cultivators and food processors to utilize the farm produce best. Likewise, these concerns make more relevant today when there is a risk of a global deficit in the supply-to-demand ratio of food grains and food products. The concept of farm-to-fork is more understood and paid attention to nowadays, and it is well understood that food processing leads to lesser product losses.

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Food is any substance that is derived from a plant or animal source which is edible in nature and consumed by humans orally to satisfy hunger, pleasure, and social needs and to get proper nutrition for growth and health. Nowadays, the concept of food preservation mainly focuses on the quality and safety of the food without affecting the nutritional, functional, and sensory attributes of the products. Despite the associated drawbacks like high energy consumption and loss of sensory attributes and nutrients, conventional preservation techniques, such as thermal preservation methods, are widely used for food preservation (Vanga et al., 2017). Recently, manufacturers are shifting towards novel technologies like non-thermal processing techniques and natural antimicrobials because of their eco-friendly nature. However, the combined effect of novel technologies with thermal processing will help in preserving food with minimal loss of the nutritional and sensory profile of the food (Taylor, 2018).

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Fruits and vegetables are highly recommended as part of our daily intake as they are the source of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, flavonoids, and other bioactive compounds. However, they are extremely perishable and prone to postharvest losses due to the presence of 80 to 90% high moisture content (Sharma et al., 2018). The percentage of postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables in developed countries varies from 5 to 25%, while in developing countries, it ranges from 20 to 50%, depending on the crop, cultivar, and handling conditions (Siddiqui et al., 2011). Rapid deterioration of fruits and vegetables occurs as a result of higher temperatures, the activity of insects and microbes, improper handling, unsuitable storage and transportation conditions, and so on. The postharvest treatments are used to protect fresh fruits and vegetables; those physical and chemical properties are affected, which results in the alteration of the food’s organoleptic properties (Shankar et al., 2017). Hence the demand for minimally processed food has increased tremendously due to the changing lifestyle and high priority for the safety and originality of food products.

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Most of the operations in chemical and biological processing industries are analogous to each other, involving the physical, chemical, or biological conversion of raw materials into finished products. Food processing is the transformation of raw food materials into finished products through a series of steps; each of them is termed a unit operation (Anandharamakrishnan & Ishwarya, 2019). Basic unit operations involved in food processing include heating, cooling, mixing, concentration, drying, evaporation, distillation, separation, and many others. In general, all these unit operations involve the transfer and change of mass and energy. This chapter mainly focuses on principles behind common unit operations employed in food industries with special considerations regarding the design and other engineering perspectives. A basic understanding of the principles of process engineering is adequate for designing a new process. In the food industry, knowledge of food processing helps in process control and monitoring of product quality in terms of conservation of mass and energy.

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Electromagnetic waves are referred to as waves of an electromagnetic field that carries electromagnetic radiant energy and propagates through space. James Clerk Maxwell, in 1873, suggested the existence of electromagnetic waves and worked out their properties mathematically. They created it as a result of vibrations between an electric and magnetic field. These include infrared (IR) waves, radio frequency waves, ultraviolet, microwaves (MWs), visible light, X-rays, and gamma rays. This classification of electromagnetic waves, according to their frequency, is called the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic waves of lower frequencies are called non-ionizing radiation, such as MWs, visible MWs, radio waves, and IR. These photons don’t have adequate energy to ionize atoms or break chemical bonds. The combined energy transfer of many photons is due to the heating effect of non-ionizing radiation that causes internal heating. High-frequency radiations such as ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and gamma rays are identified as ionizing radiation, where individual photons have enough energy to disrupt the chemical bonds and ionize the molecules. Besides heating, it can damage living cells and thus causes health hazards. Hence, nowadays, techniques involving radiofrequency (RF) waves, MWs, and IR waves are used majorly in food processing applications.

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Thermal processing of foods is one of the most widespread technologies in food industries for cooking, inactivating microbes and enzymes, and influencing physical or chemical changes that make food palatable with extended shelf life. The conventional heating method involves heat transfer utilizing conduction, convection, and radiation. The application of novel alternative heating techniques such as MW, inductive, and ohmic heating (OH) methods is increasing due to the energy-intensive and safe food processing techniques. They have less dependence on thermal conductivity and convection and therefore cause less temperature gradient. These electrical heating techniques are volumetric heating methods that produce heat within the product.

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Food quality is the most critical factor which impacts the food processing industries in terms of safety, economy, growth, etc. Thus, the need for establishing an efficient and cost-effective method for assessing the quality of different food products always prevails. Food quality is a multi-faceted concept and the degree of acceptance of a particular food. Further, food quality denotes a combination of all desired characteristics and properties of food items. Food quality includes sensory attributes (texture, taste, aroma, and appearance) and nutritional and functional properties. The subjective and objective are the two main methods of quality assessment for food products. Based on the product attributes, the objective methods are known as analytical methods, while the subjective methods are termed sensory methods based on consumer perception (Jha, 2010).

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Nanotechnology has been recognized as a promising and potential research area recognized by various fields, including electronics, photonics, medicine, food, pharmaceutical, agriculture, and cosmetics. This nanoscale technology is being used to build a variety of commercial products in a variety of industries. Nanotechnology implies the manipulation of material at a tiny scale (atomic or sub-atomic or molecular levels) ranging between 1 nm and 100 nm, where the characteristics vary from the material at a large scale (Singh et al., 2017; Ramsden, 2005). The particle size reduction increases the surface area to volume ratio, which increases chemical, biological, and catalytic activity at the molecular or atomic level and so increases the biological characteristics of the materials, resulting in new products (Garnett & Kallinteri, 2006; Nel, Xia, Mädler, & Li, 2006). The food industry is facing huge challenges in the development of products with high-quality and safe foods or feeds with better efficiency, environmental acceptance, and sustainability. Nanotechnology may offer a solution to these complex challenges by providing innovative materials and products to meet increasing demands in the food industry (Suresh & Jayas, 2011). Nanotechnology has been shown to have tremendous applications in the food sector, starting from the production of innovative products to processing, storage, preservation, packaging, transportation, traceability, safety, and security are shown in Figure 8.1 (Chaudhry & Castle, 2011; Momin, Chitra, & Prajapati, 2012).