High voltage electric pulse treatment of water-containing foodstuffs

Abstract

This study deals with the energy efficient and enviromentally safe methods of electronic treatment of water-containing foodstuffs in order to extend their shelf life without changing their initial nutrition and biological properties. It is shown that high-voltage electric pulse treatment of fluid foodstuffs, instead of thermal pasteurization and sterilization, is less power consuming in both the processing time and the temperature of heating the medium. It is found that the following requirements must be satisfied to reach the total inactivation of microorganisms in the treated fluid medium: temperature of heating the medium in the discharge chamber must be higher than the critical one in the range of ~70°C; the high electric field intensity between the electrodes must not cause a breakdown of the medium; the pulse amplitude should be maximal; the pulse front should be minimal (up to 20 ns); and the pulse duration has to be optimally long (no less than 100 ns). It is ascertained that the high-voltage pulse treatment with these parameters leads to the improvement of the properties of the treated beverages, the acquisition of new curative properties, and the extension of their shelf life.