Research report: Editorial: Multiscale analysis of ultrasound-assisted and electro-physical methods for modifying structure–property relationships in plant-based foods

An editorial in Frontiers in Soft Matter finds that ultrasound-assisted processing and pulsed electric fields can modify plant-based food structures across molecular, cellular, network, and product scales. The article introduces a four-contribution research topic examining how these electro-physical approaches alter structure–property relationships in plant proteins, tomato-based matrices, and tofu. Rather than presenting a single new experiment, the editorial synthesizes two comprehensive reviews, a mini-review, and one original tofu study.

Together, the contributions describe changes involving protein organization, cell-wall permeability, pectin networks, rheology, yield, and texture. The editorial frames plant-based food as a dynamic soft-matter system whose functional properties emerge from a hierarchy extending from individual molecules to intermediate networks and, ultimately, macroscopic behavior. Plant proteins and polysaccharides can have rigid structures, limited solubility, undesirable off-flavors, and poor texturization under conventional thermal processing.

Replacing animal-derived proteins and fats with plant sources therefore presents scientific difficulties as well as sustainability goals. The proposed alternative is to connect physical changes at one scale with observable properties at another, including mouthfeel, firmness, stability, and texture, rather than treating food processing as a collection of unrelated steps. One review examines ultrasound-assisted structural modification in plant proteins at the molecular and macro-organizational levels.

Its mechanism centers on acoustic cavitation, which generates localized shear forces, microjets, and transient temperature spikes. These effects can disrupt non-covalent interactions, partially unfurl folded polypeptide chains, and expose previously hidden hydrophobic regions. The editorial reports that this molecular realignment can improve solubility, emulsification, and gelation performance.

A second review addresses a wider processing continuum, beginning with the extraction of components from plant biomass and extending to the texturization of the resulting ingredients. It considers the integration of ultrasound with complementary electro-physical technologies in what the editorial describes as multi-technology, green processing cascades. The purpose is to connect the physical principles involved in isolation with the production of ingredients whose structures and techno-functional properties are retained or improved.

Rather than treating ultrasound and other electro-physical methods as isolated alternatives to heat, this perspective places them within coordinated processing lines and considers how multiple physical mechanisms can contribute at successive stages. The collection’s mini-review offers a more focused multiscale analysis of tomato-based matrices subjected to ultrasound or pulsed electric fields. According to the editorial, both approaches can modify cell-wall permeability and interactions within pectin networks without the thermal degradation associated with heating.

These microscopic modifications can affect macroscopic rheological properties and are reported in the tomato work to enhance lycopene bioaccessibility. The contribution therefore illustrates how targeted physical stress can be connected to process efficiency, potential nutritional value, and sensory quality in the same matrix. Its evidence is specific to tomato-based systems, however, and the editorial does not demonstrate that every response observed in those systems will occur at the same level in other plant foods.

The topic’s original research examines a finished plant-based product: tofu. In that study, the authors use multivariate modeling to evaluate the combined effects of thermosonication and coagulant type on tofu matrices. The editorial describes the analysis as a mapping of relationships among physical processing inputs, coagulant chemistry, product yield, and textural profiles.

Because the study evaluates several variables together, it seeks to clarify how processing mechanics and coagulation conditions relate to the formation and performance of a protein network. Its central methodological message is that structural optimization in plant-based foods should not rely only on empirical trial and error, but should instead use an integrated account of interacting physical and chemical inputs. Across these contributions, ultrasound and electro-physical processing are presented as distinct but complementary sources of physical stress.

Ultrasound acts through cavitation-associated mechanical effects, including shear forces and microjets, whereas pulsed electric fields impose localized electrical stress on plant material. In tomato matrices, these treatments are considered together because both can influence cell and network organization. In plant proteins, ultrasound is associated with changes to folded molecular structures and non-covalent interactions.

The soft-matter framework allows researchers to relate these molecular or cellular events to the behavior of gels, emulsions, and other organized structures, and then to properties such as solubility, stability, rheology, and texture. The editorial also places the research topic within the wider push toward sustainable food systems and connects it to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on zero hunger and responsible consumption and production. Its argument is that replacing animal-derived food matrices with plant-based alternatives requires more than a change in ingredients; the structures within those ingredients must also be engineered deliberately.

Non-thermal physical methods offer tools for controlling selected features without relying solely on conventional heating. Nevertheless, the editorial is a synthesis of research contributions rather than a clinical, consumer, or industrial performance study, and it does not report human health outcomes, consumer acceptance results, or large-scale manufacturing validation. The strongest conclusion is methodological: improving the texture and function of plant-based foods requires researchers to connect mechanisms across scales and model the interactions among processing variables.

Ultrasound-assisted protein modification, electric-field treatment of plant cells, combined electro-physical processing, and multivariate optimization of tofu demonstrate how this approach can be applied to different structural levels and product systems. The research topic does not establish universal gains in nutritional value, yield, sensory quality, or texture.

Subject of Research: Multiscale modification of plant-food structures using ultrasound and electro-physical processing

Article Title: Editorial: Multiscale analysis of ultrasound-assisted and electro-physical methods for modifying structure–property relationships in plant-based foods

Article References: Lamas, D. L., Lin, Y.-W., & Huang, P.-H. (2026). Editorial: Multiscale analysis of ultrasound-assisted and electro-physical methods for modifying structure–property relationships in plant-based foods. Frontiers in Soft Matter, 6, Article 2019319. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsfm.2026.2019319

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/frsfm.2026.2019319

Keywords: plant-based foods, ultrasound processing, pulsed electric fields, food structure, plant proteins, soft matter, tofu texture, tomato matrices, food engineering, Editorial, Multiscale, analysis