DEVELOPMENT OF PULSED ELECTRIC FIELD SYSTEM TO PROCESS MOTHER’S MILK
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Date
2022
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Abstract
The present study investigates the design and development of Pulsed
electric field system for processing donor mother’s milk - A novel food processing
technology. The design and development of pulsed electric field system was carried
out in two phases. In the first phase Pulsed electric field chambers of different types
viz., coaxial cylinders and rectangular parallel plates were designed and developed.
In the second phase the developed PEF chambers were validated by processing
donor mother’s milk and by assessing the physicochemical, microbial and
immunological parameters. A coaxial and rectangular chamber was designed by
AutoCAD 2.0, Version - 2020 software and developed for a capacity of
50mL/200mL/500 mL using food grade stainless steel 304 and acrylic/ HDPE
material. In PEF processing, the distance between the electrodes was fixed to be
10mm. For a capacity of 50 mL and 200mL in coaxial chamber, the diameter of
outer and inner cylinders with thickness of 3mm were calculated to be 34 mm and
54 mm ; 138 mm and 118 mm respectively. Two cylinders were arranged
concentrically over the insulated base in order to share the same axis point between
them. The base and lid of the PEF processing chamber was made up of non
conducting acrylic material which acted as an insulator to prevent short circuit
between two concentric electrodes during the application of high voltage gradient.
A rectangular parallel plate chamber was designed and developed for a capacity of
500mL using food grade stainless steel 304, acrylic material and high density
polyethylene. For a capacity of 500mL dimensions of the chamber size was
calculated to be 120x80x130 mm. Six rectangular electrodes with the dimensions of
108 X 115 mm were placed parallel to each other and distance between the
electrodes was fixed to be 10 mm for PEF processing. High density polyethylelene
unit was grooved to fix the rectangular electrodes with thickness of 2mm. The
rectangular parallel plate electrodes were alternatively connected to the opposite
polarity using patch cords in order to prevent flashover between the electrodes.
Both coaxial and rectangular parallel plate chambers was designed such that the
electrodes can be dismantled, washed and sterilized for subsequent PEF processing
of liquid samples.