Emerging Non-Thermal Technologies for Reducing Anti-Nutritional Factors in Food Systems: A Systematic Review

Naturally occurring compounds in foods, such as tannins, saponins, phytic acid, gossypol, lectins, and various enzyme inhibitors (protease inhibitors (PIs) and amylase inhibitors), function as anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) that hinder the absorption of essential vitamins and minerals, negatively impacting nutritional bioavailability and human health. These compounds pose significant challenges to the food industry, necessitating innovative solutions to improve nutritional quality without compromising food safety and sensory attributes. Novel non-thermal techniques, including pulsed electric field (PEF), ultrasonication, irradiation, and cold plasma (CP), have gained attention over traditional non-thermal techniques like soaking, germination, fermentation etc. as they can reduce ANFs while preserving nutritional integrity and overall food quality. These techniques bring about changes in the structure of biomolecules (proteins, enzymes, and cell membrane components) by mechanisms, such as electroporation, electrochemical interactions, and molecular polarization. This review critically analyzes the underlying mechanisms, efficacy, and practical challenges of these techniques in mitigating ANFs in foods. Non-thermal methods show considerable potential in reducing ANFs through various mechanisms such as cavitation and high-energy waves, to degrade complex anti-nutritional compounds. The effectiveness of these techniques varies with the food matrix, processing conditions, and specific anti-nutritional compounds. Non-thermal technologies hold promise for developing functional, nutrient-rich foods to meet modern consumer demands.