Pascalization,
bridgmanization, or
high pressure processing (HPP), is a method of
preserving and
sterilizing food, in which a product is processed under very high
pressure, leading to the inactivation of certain
microorganisms and
enzymes in the food. The technique was named after
Blaise Pascal, a French scientist of the 17th century whose work included detailing the effects of pressure on fluids. During pascalization, more than 50,000 pounds per square inch (340 MPa, 3.4 kbar) may be applied for around fifteen minutes, leading to the inactivation of
yeast,
mold, and
bacteria. Pascalization is also known as bridgmanization, named for
physicist Percy Williams Bridgman.