Evaluation of the static electric field effects on freezing parameters of some food systems

Abstract

In present study the effect of freezing in the absence and presence of static electric field (SEF) on selected freezing parameters of liquid and solid food including: distilled water, NaCl solutions, mushroom extract and mushroom were investigated. The static electric field was applied at the intensities of 0.0–9.6 × 105 V/m during freezing at -30 ± 1 °C. The freezing parameters of different samples were evaluated from the freezing curve of them. Results showed that among the different samples, the pure water had the highest freezing temperature, supercooling degree and shortest phase transition period in the absence of electric field. By applying the electric field, the nucleation temperature and phase transition period of the samples increased. The highest nucleation temperature was observed in the pure water under 6.4 × 105 V/m electric field. The nucleation temperature of the other samples showed an optimum value in the intensity of 3.2 × 105 V/m.