Effect Of Pulsed Electric Field Processing Research Articles

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) Processing of Chilled and Frozen-Thawed Lamb Meat Cuts: Relationships between Sensory Characteristics and Chemical Composition of Meat.

The effect of PEF processing and chilled storage on the volatile composition and sensory properties of chilled and frozen lamb cuts was investigated in this study. Results showed that PEF-treated chilled and frozen lamb cuts varied in temporal flavour attributes with storage. Storage for 7 days resulted in oxidized flavour, while PEF treatments for all chilled and frozen cuts were associated with browned and livery flavour attributes. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was applied to determine the predictive relationships between the volatile composition, fatty acid and amino acid profiles, and sensory responses for PEF treated lamb cuts. The results showed that some volatile compounds (2-nonanone, 2-pentylfuran, pyrrole, methyl pyrazine, 2-ethyl-3-methyl pyrazine, and thiophene) correlated well with the meaty and juicy flavour of PEF treated frozen lamb cuts. In PEF treated chilled lamb cuts, meaty and juicy flavours were associated with the presence of fatty acids (C18:0, SFA, 20:5(n-3), and n-3). In contrast, livery and browned perception of both PEF processed chilled and frozen lamb cuts were associated with the presence of amino acids (threonine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, tyrosine, and methionine), and some volatile compounds (heptanal, 2-ethylfuran, pyridine, dimethyl disulphide, dimethyl trisulphide, and 3,5-diethyl-2-methyl pyrazine). Overall, these results imply that careful consideration of type of meat cuts, PEF pre-treatment, and storage are important when subjecting lamb meat to PEF processing.

Effects of pulsed electric field on fat globule structure, lipase activity, and fatty acid composition in raw milk and milk with different fat globule sizes

To modify the structure of milk fat globules (MFGs), raw milk (RM) with native MFGs, and milk with small (MS) and large (ML) MFGs, were subjected to moderate pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment at 9 and 16 kV·cm−1 for 30 μs. The changes caused by PEF on MFG structure leading to MFG-MFG and MFG-protein aggregation were found to depend on the size, composition and/or previous damage caused by the separation and mixing processes during production of MS and ML, in addition to the intensity of the PEF treatment. Although, PEF treatment had a more pronounced effect on MFGM proteins of MS, these MFG were less affected by PEF due to significant adsorption of milk proteins. The structural changes caused by PEF were accompanied by changes in lipase activity and fatty acid (FA) profiles, i.e. increase in the proportion of C6:0, C8:0, C10 and some long-chain FAs and a decrease in medium and other long chain FAs. Industrial relevancePEF is gaining attention in the dairy industry. However, information regarding the effect of PEF processing on milk components and functionality is still limited. The present investigation contributes to understand the potential of PEF at moderate field intensities to modify the MFGs and consequences for milk stability, lipolysis and composition of FAs. The new insight is relevant in development of new products and ingredients containing milk fat.

Impact of the Pulsed Electric Field Treatment on Bioactive Food Compounds: Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatment is a non-thermal food processing technology that mostly applied to low viscosity high acidity food samples. Due to its non-thermal nature, it is preferred over thermal processing technologies since it has a superiority to preserve physical, chemical, biochemical and sensory properties of food with extended shelf life. Studies focused on preservation of bioactive and health-related compounds usually involve effect of PEF on water soluble vitamins, total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic compounds, phenolic substances, organic acids, and anthocyanins and are limited on how bioaccessibility and bioavailability of these compounds are changed by PEF processing. Thus, effects of PEF processing on bioaccessibility and bioavailability of food components with both in vivo and in vitro studies emphasizing on future needs are emphasized in this review.

Effect of pulsed electric fields on the structure and frying quality of “kumara” sweet potato tubers

Abstract The aim of this research was to study the effect of pulsed electric fields (PEF) on the microstructure of “kumara” sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas cv. Owairaka ) and its quality after frying. Whole sweet potato tubers were treated at different electric field strengths ranging from 0.3 to 1.2 kV/cm with specific energy levels between 0.5 and 22 kJ/kg. Cell viability was determined using tetrazolium staining to investigate the uniformity of the PEF effect across tubers. Based on the patterns of viable cells it was observed that the effect of PEF was not homogeneous across the tuber. This result was also supported by the pattern of enzymatic browning due to PEF facilitating the reaction of polyphenoloxidase and phenols. PEF treatment resulted in significant softening of the ground tissues, but not on the dermal tissues, as determined by texture analysis. With respect to frying quality, tubers pre-treated with PEF at electric field strength of 1.2 kV/cm and fried at 190 °C had an 18% lower oil content than non-PEF treated samples. The kinetics of browning as a function of frying time could be described by a fractional conversion model. The activation energy ( Ea ) of the browning rate during frying increased (more temperature sensitive) due to PEF pretreatment at 0.5 kV/cm and 1.2 kV/cm. It implies that PEF pretreatment allows frying the potato chips at lower temperature in order to achieve the same brown colour intensity as the non-PEF treated tubers. This study shows clearly that PEF could reduce the energy required for cutting and frying of kumara. Industrial relevance This study provides evidence that the effect of PEF processing on whole kumara tubers is not uniform, demonstrating heterogenous distribution. These findings provide important information for food industry to design appropriate PEF processing conditions for solid materials. More importantly, PEF treatment reduced the energy required for cutting and frying of kumara, and reduced the oil content in the fried kumara chips.

Evaluation of Microbial Stability, Bioactive Compounds, Physicochemical Properties, and Consumer Acceptance of Pomegranate Juice Processed in a Commercial Scale Pulsed Electric Field System

This paper investigated the feasibility for pasteurizing raw (100 %) pomegranate juice in a commercial scale pulsed electric field (PEF) processing system. The juice was processed at 35 and 38 kV/cm for 281 μs at 55 °C with a flow rate of 100 L/h. Effect of PEF processing on microbial stability, color, °Brix, pH, sediment, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, anthocyanin, and sensory properties after the treatments and during storage at 4 °C for 12 weeks were studied and compared to those of thermally processed juice. PEF treatments significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the growth of total aerobic bacteria, which remained at <2.5 log colony-forming units (CFU)/ml during the 12-week storage. No yeast and mold were detected (<0.69 log CFU/ml) in the PEF-treated juices during storage up to weeks 10 and 12, which is similar to the thermally processed juice. There were no significant differences in pH and °Brix values between the PEF processed juice and unprocessed juice. PEF processing did not alter the contents of total phenolics and anthocyanin as compared to unprocessed juice. PEF processing had significantly (p < 0.05) less impact on the color of pomegranate juice than thermal processing. PEF-treated juice had the same consumer satisfaction scores as the unprocessed juice, which were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than thermally processed juice samples. There was no significant difference between the two PEF treatments in all results. This study demonstrated that PEF technology extended microbial shelf-life and preserved the major quality and nutritional characteristics of pomegranate juice, and hence, is technically feasible for commercialization in the juice industry.