Investigations on pulsed electric field parameters for inactivation of microorganisms in liquid food

Abstract

Due to technical innovations in agriculture the world s perishable and imperishable food production are ever increasing But the food production is majorly influenced by the changes in season and nature So food processing and preservation methods have been adopted by civilized society to preserve such seasonal food and supply the consumers throughout the year Thermal methods have been used for a long time but they drastically alter the food to be preserved particularly its taste The healthy eating trends and food quality preferences are increasing the demand for alternative food processing methods globally Non thermal food processing technologies have been researched as a result of increasing demand for high quality fresh like food products Pulsed Electric Field PEF is an innovative process offering food quality improvement and an alternative to the conventional thermal techniques The PEF technology has advantages like less processing time low process temperature and environmentally friendliness PEF process is provided by applying pulsed electric field to a food product in a treatment zone When a microorganism is exposed to PEF a trans-membrane potential is induced across the cell membrane which causes the cell death The efficiency of the PEF treatment can be derived based on both electrical parameters like voltage amplitude pulse width pulse frequency and biological factors like cell size and structure The parameters associated with PEF technology are inextricable in nature and so the influence of any individual parameters can be studied along with the other parameters The microorganisms can be inactivated significantly if the electrical energy transferred to the food product is increased newline