Fast flow-through non-thermal pasteurization using constant radiofrequency electric fields

Abstract

Pulsed Electric Field technologies have captured the attention of researchers on food/npasteurization because of their non-thermal inactivation mechanism, which results in fresh-like/nproducts. Nevertheless, high voltage pulsing required by these technologies implies complex and costly/ngenerators. Here, as an alternative, it is proposed a method, partially inherited from research on cell/nelectroporation for gene transfection, in which the liquid to be treated flows at high speed through a/nminiature chamber where the electric field is permanently applied. In particular, it is proposed that the/nconstantly applied electric field consists of an AC signal (> 100 kHz) so that electrochemical byproducts/nare minimized. The method, while being compatible with batch processing, will allow use of/nlower voltages and will avoid the pulsation requirement. The proposal is accompanied by a numerical/nstudy and an in vitro study which demonstrate its feasibility