This chapter reviews the fundamentals of the Pulsed Electric Field (PEF)
and its applications to the extraction of high-added value substances from food
matrices. The electroporation process on the cell membrane is explained and the most
recent works dealing with the use of PEF for extracting essential molecules for the
human body such as lipids, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, proteins, carbohydrates,
and vitamins, from food and plant matrices, and food waste, are described in detail.
The combination of PEF with other extraction techniques is a common practice and
improves the extractability of specific compounds to increase the recovery yields.
Keywords: Electroporation, Extraction, Food matrices, Food waste, High-added value substances, Pulsed electric field.