Review of ultrasound combinations with hybrid and innovative techniques for extraction and processing of food and natural products

What happens when you team up sound waves with green solvents like NADES? You get a powerful recipe to revolutionize industrial extraction and processing.

Ultrasonic waves wield significant power across food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and bio-fuel industries, yet they still carry certain shortcomings. Recent studies demonstrate that pairing ultrasound with conventional or innovative techniques successfully overcomes these limits while enhancing energy, momentum, and mass transfer.

For the first time, a comprehensive review systematically summarizes these hybrid approaches. When ultrasound joins forces with conventional methods like Soxhlet, enzymes, ionic liquids, or Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES), it drastically improves mixing, cuts down thermal and concentration gradients, and sharpens selective extraction.

Furthermore, combining ultrasound with high-tech methods—such as microwaves, supercritical fluids, pulsed electric fields, or UV and infrared radiations—slashes equipment size, speeds up process control, increases production, and eliminates unnecessary steps. By comparing theories, applications, advantages, and limitations, this timely review paves the way for modern food and plant-based chemistry at both research and industrial scales.

Key Points

• Combining ultrasound with innovative techniques overcomes traditional processing limits.
• Ultrasound paired with NADES enhances mixing and selective extraction.
• Hybrid methods reduce equipment size and increase production efficiency.