Ultrasound is regarded as an emerging and promising technology in industrial food processing. In recent years, several applications of ultrasound in relation to the production of beverages, mainly wines and juices, have been assayed at a laboratory scale. To be specific, ultrasound has been used for enhancing heat transfer, detection of microbial contamination, reducing membrane fouling in beverage clarification, inactivation of microorganisms, equipment cleaning, process monitoring, assisted extraction, and accelerating reactions within beverages. Many of its uses are still being researched. With regard to the latter one, some researchers have focused their attention on accelerating wine aging through ultrasound in order to bring about the same effects as natural ageing on wine in a very short period. Besides, since the beverage industry produces a million tons of byproducts per year, which represents a major disposal problem, ultrasound can be applied as an innovating and green extraction technology to recover bioactive compounds from fruit beverage-derived byproducts. This book presents an overview of the current applications of ultrasound in beverage industries. The most recent developments are discussed and future prospects for research in this field are explored. Finally, the mechanism of microbial disinfection, available ultrasound reactor designs and guidelines for important operating parameters are also discussed.

The genus Jatropha comprises a range of species with a wide range of potential applications. For instance, J. dioica and J. curcas have important medicinal, pharmaceutical and food uses, as described throughout the book. Most of the chapters of this book are focused on this later species, which is considered as the most promising and the one with the most applications. J. curcas oil is used as substrate for biodiesel production and, due to its high tolerance and uptake of metals, this plant is also used in phytoremediation, to be specific for the remediation of degraded mining areas. This book presents an overview of both current and promising applications of the species of Jatropha to the agricultural, mining and biofuel industries and, to lesser extent, the pharmaceutical and food industries. The agronomic practices (genotypes, plant density, fertilization, pruning and harvest date) are described as well. The most recent developments are discussed and the future prospects for research in these fields are explored.