Revolutionizing Food: The Latest Frontiers in Food Science and Technology

3. Pulse Electric Field

Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing represents an innovative method for pasteurizing food, employing brief, high-voltage electric field bursts to achieve targeted microbial inactivation or modify food structure. In PEF processing, liquid foods are subjected to high-voltage pulses, typically ranging from 20 to 80 kV/cm, with durations spanning milliseconds to microseconds, and this treatment occurs between two electrodes (Zhang et al. 2010; Toepfl, Heinz, and Knorr 2006). For solid foods, where a larger gap exists in the treatment chamber and due to limitations of the pulse generator's power, voltages ranging from 1 to 8 kV/cm are applied. The high-frequency repetition of pulses, reaching rates as high as 3,000 pulses per second, ensures that the entire food sample volume is effectively treated.”

PEF processing is utilized for food pasteurization, with commercial applications including organic fruit juices in Oregon, USA. It's employed for liquid foods (e.g., juice, milk, liquid egg) and semi-solids (yogurt, applesauce, salsa, pudding). PEF creates pores in cell membranes via an electric field. It's extensively studied for sterilizing and enzyme inactivation in liquid foods and gaining popularity Recently, PEF has been used for food extraction and dehydration with lower field strength (<10 kV/cm), enhancing nutrient release, liquid diffusion, and reducing dehydration time (Yu, Jin, Fan, and Wu 2018; Yu, Jin, Fan, and Xu 2017).