MICROBIAL INACTIVATION of FOODS BY PULSED ELECTRIC FIELDS

Abstract

Pulses of high voltage electric fields (PEF) are potentially a most important cold pasteurization/sterilization food preservation technique to replace or partially substitute for thermal processes. During the PEF process, lysis of micro-organisms is caused by irreversible structural changes in the membranes, leading to pore formation and destruction of the semipermeable barrier of the membrane. Theories explaining electroporation of the cell membrane and applications of the nonthermal PEF process are reviewed in this paper.