ABSTRACT
The chapter explores all relevant information pertaining to underlying mechanisms of microbial inactivation, optimized process conditions for enhanced mortality, effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on milk enzymes, nutrients and quality attributes, and a critical appraisal of experimental designs. PEF is one such technology where considerable amount of research and development activities have been initiated, resulting in optimized processing parameters, information on PEF-induced changes on quality characteristics, storage stability of processed products, and equipment for their commercial production. L. Barsotti and J. C. Cheftel have provided a detailed mechanism of microbial cell destruction by applying PEF. Spores inactivation remains a challenge in PEF as well as they may cause safety threat. Like other processing technologies, spore germination followed by PEF treatment was observed to be effective. PEF treatment is generally adopted for the purpose of inactivation of microorganisms. PEF is considered a potential replacement for age-old thermal processing.
