Abstract
Radiofrequency (RF) heating was investigated as an alternative to cooking, drying or chemical disinfection for the preservation of fishmeal and shown to be a highly effective process without any detectable effects, particularly on proteins, lipids or in vivo digestibility. The uniform and deep penetration of RF waves resulted in rapid and homogeneous heating allowing ∼4 times lower thermal loads to be used for >5 log10 (>99.999%) reduction in infection levels for Salmonella spp and for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Simultaneously, the natural flora was reduced by >3 log10 (>99.9%). The RF process can be operated in the 70-90°C range and with high energy-use efficiency (∼50%), which compares well with the 10-15% efficiency for conventional surface heating methods. Industry and expert laboratories confirmed these results. RF heating is thus a new alternative thermal process that is particularly appropriate for disinfecting fishmeal or for reprocessing it rapidly and efficiently with full retention of its natural attributes.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 2273-2280 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture |
Volume | 85 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2005 |
Keywords
- Disinfection
- Fishmeal
- Radiofrequency heating
- Retention of quality attributes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Food Science
- Chemistry (miscellaneous)