Ohmic Processing: Temperature Dependent Electrical Conductivities of Lemon Juice

Abstract

Development of new technologies for thermal food treatment is still of great industrial and scientific interest. Ohmic heating is one of these new technologies. In this study, lemon juice was heated on a laboratory scale static ohmic at different voltage gradients in the range of 30–55V/cm. The voltage gradient was statistically significant on the ohmic heating rates for lemon juice (P < 0.05). Measurements were made from 20 to 74ºC and showed a linear increase in electrical conductivity values with increasing temperature. The ohmic heating system performance coefficients were in the range of 0.54–0.92.