High-Pressure Homogenization in Food Processing: Mechanisms, Applications, and Industrial Translation.

High-pressure homogenization (HPH), including ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH) as its higher pressure subset, has evolved from conventional size-reduction operations into versatile food-processing platforms for emulsification, preservation, biopolymer restructuring, and product-level functional design. In contrast to recent descriptive reviews that mainly summarize application categories, this review reframes HPH as a valve-scale energy-dissipation and thermo-fluidic transport process. Evidence published mainly from 2022 to 2026 indicates that HPH performance is governed less by nominal pressure alone than by the coupled effects of valve or chamber geometry, specific energy input, residence-time distribution, shear and extensional deformation, turbulence, cavitation, adiabatic heating, matrix composition, interfacial stabilization, and downstream cooling. Across emulsification, microbial and enzyme control, biopolymer nanodispersion, and texture modification, HPH is most effective when hydrodynamic stresses are matched with formulation capacity, microbial susceptibility, and matrix-specific rheology. The clearest translational value is observed in liquid and pumpable foods, where finer microstructures can improve physical stability, bioaccessibility, microbial control, gel or foam behavior, and sensory smoothness. However, these benefits often plateau or decline when viscosity limits stress transfer, interfacial coverage becomes insufficient, particulate loading disrupts valve flow, proteins reaggregate after mechanical unfolding, or cumulative heating narrows quality margins. Future progress will depend on predictive, application-specific process design supported by CFD-informed valve selection, energy-normalized reporting, thermal lethality assessment, equipment-wear management, regulatory validation, and pilot-scale economic comparison with high-shear mixing and thermal processing.