Llavata B, Quiles A, Rosselló C, Cárcel J A
Analysis and Simulation of Agro-food Processes Group, Food Engineering Research Institute - FoodUPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Research Group of Food Microstructure and Chemistry, Food Engineering Research Institute - FoodUPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
Ultrason Sonochem. 2025 Jan;112:107155. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2024.107155. Epub 2024 Nov 17.
Ultrasonic-assisted drying is an effective technique for accelerating drying processes, particularly for products with high porosity. The structural changes induced by pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment can make low-porosity products more susceptible to the effects of ultrasound during drying. This study aimed to investigate the influence of PEF treatment on the structure of low-porosity products, such as butternut squash, and to evaluate its effect on ultrasonic-assisted drying. PEF pretreatment altered the physicochemical and microstructural properties of butternut squash. Thus, the higher the energy input, the higher the cell disintegration rate, the lower the shearing force and the lower the water holding capacity. For the same energy input applied, no influence was observed from the different combinations of pulse number and electric field intensity used. The microstructural analysis also showed greater effects with increasing intensity of PEF treatments. All these changes affected the subsequent drying, increasing the drying rate of conventional drying. Moreover, PEF pretreatment enhanced the ultrasound effects when applied during drying, reducing drying time by up to 47% when moderate PEF intensity was used. Therefore, PEF pretreatment under the appropriate conditions could make ultrasound-assisted drying of low-porosity products, such as butternut squash, more feasible.
超声辅助干燥是加速干燥过程的一种有效技术，尤其适用于高孔隙率产品。脉冲电场（PEF）处理引起的结构变化可使低孔隙率产品在干燥过程中对超声作用更敏感。本研究旨在探究PEF处理对胡桃南瓜等低孔隙率产品结构的影响，并评估其对超声辅助干燥的效果。PEF预处理改变了胡桃南瓜的物理化学和微观结构特性。因此，能量输入越高，细胞解体率越高，剪切力越低，持水能力越低。对于相同的能量输入，所使用的脉冲数和电场强度的不同组合未观察到影响。微观结构分析还表明，随着PEF处理强度的增加，影响更大。所有这些变化影响了后续干燥，提高了常规干燥的干燥速率。此外，在干燥过程中应用时，PEF预处理增强了超声效果，使用适度的PEF强度时可将干燥时间缩短多达47%。因此，在适当条件下进行PEF预处理可使胡桃南瓜等低孔隙率产品的超声辅助干燥更可行。
