The Thawing Characteristic of Frozen Tofu under High-Voltage Alternating Electric Field

Shilong Deng,Jing Xu,Zhiwei Gao,Yu Bai,Guoqing Wang,Changjiang Ding

doi:10.1155/2017/3914074

Shilong Deng, Jing Xu + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/3914074

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Abstract

To systematically and comprehensively investigate the high voltage alternating electric field (HVAEF) thawing processing, we investigated the high-voltage electric field thawing characteristic of the frozen tofu at different voltages for alternating current (AC). The thawing time, thawing loss of frozen tofu, and specific energy consumption (SEC) of HVEF system were measured. Seven different mathematical models were then compared to simulate thawing time curves based on root mean square error, reduced mean square of deviation, and modeling efficiency. The results showed that the thawing rate of frozen tofu was notably greater in the high-voltage electric field system when compared to control. Both Linear and Quadratic models were the best mathematical models. Therefore, this work presents a facile and effective strategy for experimentally and theoretically determining the HVAEF thawing properties of frozen tofu.

Highlights

Tofu is representative of Chinese traditional food and is a favorite of consumers because of its unique flavor, rich taste, edible convenience, and rich nutritional value
When the thawing temperature was set at −3∘C, the thawing time of frozen chicken under high-voltage electric field was 2/3 the time taken for thawing meat using a common refrigerator [7]
In order to set the desired high-voltage parameters for high voltage alternating electric field (HVAEF) thawing, the power was connected to a voltage regulator, with an adjustable voltage ranging within 0–50 kV for alternating current (AC) by a controller

Summary

Introduction

Tofu is representative of Chinese traditional food and is a favorite of consumers because of its unique flavor, rich taste, edible convenience, and rich nutritional value. In the case of tune fish, HVEF significantly improved the thawing rate [4] He et al [9] reported that the thawing time can be maximally reduced by 50% compared to the conventional air thawing treatment. HVEF treatment reduced the total microbial counts in thawed frozen meat by 0.5–1 log CFU/g, without affecting meat quality, and reduced volatile basic nitrogen production during storage [2] Parameters such as voltage, distance, and electric field strength were studied to determine the relationships and factors that affect HVEF treatment [3, 5]. The energy consumption of HVEF thawing was comparatively far smaller compared to the other thawing methods [3, 5] These studies were performed under high-voltage direct current electric field. The center temperature was measured, in addition to thawing loss and specific energy consumption of frozen tofu to understand the roles of energy consumption and product quality on thawing process

Materials and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conflicts of Interest

Conclusion