Review: Effect of pulsed electric fields on the quality of food products

The use of high-intensity pulsed electric fields (PEF) in food applications such as fruit juices is gaining popularity, since it is claimed to represent one of the promising nonthermal alternatives to conventional pasteurisation methods. In addition, the PEF-treated food should remain "fresh" and possess a satisfactory ambient shelf life. Re cently it has been shown that technical improvements of the pulse technique applied may result in fresh milk with 14 days shelf life at 6 degrees C. Moreover, there are indications that it is even possible to inactivate spores with PEF. Although it is clear that PEF will not always inactivate all microorganisms, it is a promising non-thermal pasteurisation technique which may be combined with other techniques as in the "hurdle concept". The scale of the reported PEF equipment is very small. The volume of the treated samples is in the order of ml. One of the major problems for industrial application of PEF will be up-scaling. However, this is a challenge to manufacturers of food-processing equipment.