Damage of cellular material under simultaneous application of pressure and pulsed electric field

Abstract

Influence of pulsed electric field (PEF) simultaneous to pressure treatment on moisture expression from fine-cut cellular raw material has been investigated. Dependencies of specific conductivity $σ$, liquid yield $Y$, instantaneous flow rate $v$ and qualitative juice characteristics at different modes of PEF treatment are discussed. Three main consolidation phases were observed in a case of mechanical expression. A unified approach is proposed for liquid yield data analysis allowing to reduce the data scattering caused by differences in the quality of samples. Simultaneous application of pressure and PEF treatment allows to reveal a passive form of electrical damage. Pressure provokes the damage of defected cells, enhances diffusion migration of moisture in porous cellular material and depresses the cell resealing processes. PEF application at a moment when a sample specific electrical conductivity reaches minimum and pressure achieves its constant value seemed to be the most optimal.