Electrical drying of foods

A custom-made apparatus was built in our lab to permit the electrical drying or partial drying of foods. The method has proven successful at an experimental level. Pieces of vegetables were contracted, showing a decrease in volume and weight of up to ~85% of their initial values. We are currently optimizing this method, scaling it up, studying its limitation and investigating of changes in enzymatic activity during and after operation. The commercial advantages of the method are its simple, quick, clean and inexpensive operation, drying without stiffening the tissue and control over changing the tissue's porosity. The new drying method could provide an alternative way of producing small pieces of dried vegetative materials for soups, to be mixed with spices and noodles, and for other food uses.

R. Zvitov and A. Nussinovitch (2001). Weight, mechanical and structural changes induced in alginate gel beads by DC electric field. Food Hydrocolloids, 15, 33-42.