ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a comprehensive description of the mechanism of radio frequency (RF) heating and fundamentals of mathematical modeling of both electromagnetic fields and heat transfer during RF heating of foodstuffs. The first attempt of evaluating RF heating on foods was made earlier than that of microwave heating after the Second World War: V. W. Sherman described “electric heat,” how it is produced, and suggested possible applications in the food industry. By the 1960s, studies on the application of RF energy to foods focused on the defrosting of frozen products, which resulted in several commercial production lines. The RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum occupies a region from 1 to 300 MHz. While microwave and RF heating are both classed as dielectric heating methods, at the lower frequencies encountered in the RF range ionic depolarization is recognized to be the dominant heating mechanism. Microwave and RF heating also differ in terms of power generation.
