Freezing is one of the most efficient preservation approaches applied to food products and thawing is the reverse process of freezing. However, traditional freezing / thawing methods have low process efficiency. The application of ultrasound is a potential supplementary technique to improve the performance of both freezing and thawing processes of foods. Application of power ultrasound is able to better maintain the microstructure, reduce drip loss, decrease color and texture changes and retain some natural nutrients of foods during freezing. Meanwhile, quality improvement is also observed in food items thawed by ultrasound-assisted thawing methods. The fundamentals and the influences of ultrasound on the freezing and thawing processes of foods are demonstrated in this review article, from the aspects of efficiency enhancement and quality improvement.

冷冻是应用于食品的最有效的保存方法之一，解冻是冷冻的逆过程。但是，传统的冷冻/解冻方法的加工效率低。超声波的应用是一种潜在的辅助技术，可以提高食品冷冻和解冻过程的性能。功率超声的应用能够更好地保持微观结构，减少滴水损失，减少颜色和质地变化，并在冷冻过程中保留食物的某些天然营养。同时，在通过超声辅助解冻方法解冻的食品中也观察到质量改善。这篇评论文章展示了超声波对食品冷冻和解冻过程的基本原理和影响，