Power Ultrasound as an Intensification Strategy in Food Biomanufacturing: Applications, Mechanisms and Perspectives

Power ultrasound has been investigated as an intensification tool for fermentation, aging, enzymatic hydrolysis, and extraction in food biomanufacturing. Treatment outcomes vary with matrix properties, application stage, acoustic exposure, and evaluation criteria, leaving optimization largely empirical. This review compares ultrasound applications across these four operations and evaluates combinations with pulsed electric fields, cold atmospheric plasma, microwave processing, and membrane separation. Potential roles in precision fermentation, microbial protein production, synthetic microbial communities, and cell-free or multi-enzyme biomanufacturing are also examined. Applications are organized by treatment stage for fermentation and hydrolysis and by product class for aging and extraction. Mechanistic evidence is interpreted according to the mechanical and chemical effects involved and the process limitation addressed. Substrate restructuring is most beneficial when physical accessibility limits conversion or compound release, whereas microbial and enzyme tolerance often constrains ultrasound intensity during fermentation and hydrolysis. Combining ultrasound with other technologies offers opportunities to exploit their complementary strengths. Emerging food biomanufacturing platforms are potential areas for expanding ultrasound applications. The value of ultrasound lies in addressing the main limitation of each process without compromising product quality. Industrial translation will require reproducible control of acoustic exposure, consistent product performance, and sufficient processing gains to justify electrical energy consumption and equipment costs.