ABSTRACT
Electric eld application in biomaterials and food processing has a long history. e e¤ciency of direct and alternating electrical current treatments for microbial killing was rst demonstrated at the end of the nineteenth century (Prochownick and Spaeth 1890). en, di erent practical applications of this technique were tested (Stone 1909, Beattie 1914, Anderson and Finkelstein 1919, Prescott 1927, Fettermann 1928, Getchell 1935) and electric apparatuses for the treatment of µuid foods were patented (Jones 1897, Anglim 1923, Ball 1937). Later on, Flaumenbaum (1949) reported an increase of the juice yield (up to 10%) from prunes, apples, and grapes under their electrical treatment using the voltage of 220 V and industrial frequency of 50 Hz. Zagorulko (1958) reported the application of DC and AC electric elds for the enhancement of the di usion extraction of juice from sugar beets. An increase in extraction yield was explained by the electrical breakage of cellular membranes and was named as electroplasmolysis.
