Impact of pulsed electric field on cell disintegration and mass transfer in sugar beet

This study investigated the effects of pulsed electric field (PEP) treatments on sugar beet tissues. A PEF system was used to vary field strength, pulse number and capacitance in respective range of 0.5-6 kV cm(-1); 1-100 pulses; 0.5-32 mu F. It was observed that tissue damage in sugar beet was most influenced by total energy input and electric field strength. Furthermore, the energy consumption for cell disintegration by PEP treatment was significantly lower compared to thermal treatment indicating average values of about 8 kJ kg(-1) and 156 kJ kg(-1) respectively. The transfer of solids at room temperature from PEP pretreated sugar beet (1 or 2 kV cm(-1), 8 mu F, and 20 pulses) was higher than the untreated and thermal treated samples at 75 degrees C. The overall results showed that the optimization of PEF treatment conditions is very important to achieve high cell disintegration and sugar beet yield. (C) 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.