Agriculture

Pulsed electric field treatment of wine grapes using pulsed power technology has been shown to increase juice yield and produce higher quality wine.  The electric field accelerates juice expression, and turbidity and the content of solid particles decrease.  This method can be extended to other fruits and vegetables, including oranges, beets, food grapes, and cranberries, and research interest in this area is growing.

Pulse characteristics typical for this application are 1 – 1000 µs with an amplitude between 1-20 kV, designed for a very low-impedance (10 Ω load).

Pulse generators for this application:  Custom

 

 

References:
  1. Bazhal, M.I., Lebovka, N.I., Vorobiev, E., “Pulsed electric field treatment of apple tissue during compression for juice extraction”, J. Food Eng. 50 129–139 (2001).
  2. El Belighti, K., Vorobiev, E., “Modelling of solute aqueous extraction from carrots subjected to a pulsed electric field”, Biosyst. Eng. 82 1–7 (2004).
  3. Fincan, M., De Vito, F., Dejmek, P., “Pulsed electric field treatment for solid liquid extraction of red beetroot pigment”, J. Food Eng. 64 381–388 (2004).
  4. Vorobiev, E., Jemai, A.B., Bouzrara, H., Lebovka, N.I., Bazhal, M.I., “Pulsed electric field assisted extraction of juice from food plants”, in: G.V. Barbosa-Canovas, M.P. Cano (Eds.), Novel Food Processing Technologies, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, pp. 105–130 (2004).
  5. Vernier, P. T., Sun, Y., and Gundersen, M. A. "Nanoelectropulse-driven membrane perturbation and small molecule permeabilization," BMC Cell Biology, vol. 7, p. 37, (2006).
  6. Marsellés-Fontanet, AR et al. "Optimization and validation of PEF processing conditions to inactivate oxidative enzymes of grape juice." Journal of Food Engineering 83(3): 452-462 (2007).
  7. Praporscic, I., Lebovka, N., Vorobiev, E., Mietton-Peuchot, M., “Pulsed electric field enhanced expression and juice quality of white grapes”, Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 52, Issue 3, Pages 520-526 (2007).
  8. Schilling, S., S. Schmid, et al. (2008). "Comparative Study of Pulsed Electric Field and Thermal Processing of Apple Juice with Particular Consideration of Juice Quality and Enzyme Deactivation." Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56(12): 4545-4554 (2008).