Book Chapter - Microwave Heating Technology

8
Microwave Heating
Technology
M. Benlloch-Tinoco, A. Salvador,
D. Rodrigo, and N. Martnez-Navarrete
Contents
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
Introduction........................................................................................................................... 297
Principles of Microwave Heating.......................................................................................... 298
Microwave Heating Systems and Equipment........................................................................ 298
Industrial Applications in Food Processing..........................................................................300
Establishing a Novel Thermal Preservation Process: Kinetic Data Analysis.......................300
Microwave Preservation of Fruit-Based Products: Application to Kiwifruit Puree.............. 303
8.6.1 Microbial Decontamination.......................................................................................304
8.6.2 Enzyme Inactivation..................................................................................................306
8.6.3 Impact on Sensory Properties....................................................................................308
8.6.4 Impact on Nutrients and Functional Compounds...................................................... 311
8.6.5 Shelf Life of Fruit-Based Products............................................................................ 312
8.7 Conclusions and Future Trends............................................................................................. 315
Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... 315
References....................................................................................................................................... 315
8.1Introduction
Thermal technologies have been at the core of food preservation and production for many years.
However, despite the fact that heat treatments provide the required safety profile and extension
of shelf life (Osorio et al., 2008), some more recent thermal technologies, for example, microwave energy, are being explored in an attempt to find alternatives to conventional heating methods
that essentially rely on conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer and lead to dramatic
losses of both desired sensory properties and nutrients and bioactive compounds (Picouet et al.,
2009). Currently, given the recent increased demand for health-promoting foods with fresh-like
characteristics (Elez-Martnez etal., 2006), the industrial sector is showing a greater interest in the
development and optimization of novel food preservation processes, intending to meet consumer
expectations by marketing a variety of high-quality, minimally processed food products in which
the required safety and shelf-life demands are achieved but the negative impact on quality attributes
is minimized (Seorans etal., 2003).
Microwave energy might replace traditional heating methods, at least partially, providing food
products of superior quality with extended shelf life (Elez-Martnez et al., 2006; Picouet et al.,
2009; ODonnell etal., 2010). This technology can be considered as a key factor in food innovation
to successfully differentiate products (Deliza etal., 2005) or to find new uses for foods by helping
to develop novel ways to process them.
In this chapter, the fundamental mechanisms of microwave heating are presented, followed by
a review of the microwave systems and equipment used at an industrial level and the applications
297
2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
298
Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation
of this technology in unit operations in the food industry. This chapter also deals with the kinetic
data analysis of microwave processes and describes the impact of microwaves on microorganisms,
enzymes, nutrients, and bioactive compounds, and also on the shelf life of a fruit-based product.
Finally, conclusions and future improvements for the application of microwave energy to industrial
food processing are discussed.
Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016
8.2Principles of Microwave Heating

Microwave energy is transported as an electromagnetic wave (0.3300 GHz). When intercepted
by dielectrical materials, microwaves produce an increase in product temperature associated with
dipole rotation and ionic polarization (Schubert and Regier, 2010). Molecular friction of permanent
dipoles within the material takes place as they try to reorient themselves with the electrical field of
the incident wave, generating heat that is dissipated throughout the food material (Salazar-Gonzlez
et al., 2012). Additionally, microwave interaction with polar molecules results in the rotation of
molecules in the direction of the oscillating field and, in turn, collisions with other polar molecules occur, a fact that also contributes to heat generation (Salazar-Gonzlez etal., 2012). All these
molecular movements occur to a greater extent in a liquid than in a solid medium. Microwaves are
nonionizing, and their quantum energy is several orders of magnitude lower than other types of
electromagnetic radiation, meaning that microwave energy is sufficient to move the atoms of a molecule but insufficient to cause chemical changes by direct interaction with molecules and chemical
bonds (Vadivambal and Jayas 2007; Schubert and Regier 2010).
Typically, microwave food processing uses a frequency of 2450MHz for home ovens, and 915
and 896MHz for industrial heating in the United States and Europe, respectively (Wang and Sun,
2012). This type of technology involves volumetric heating, which means that the materials can
absorb microwave energy directly and internally. For this reason, in comparison with conventional
heating methods, microwaves lead to a faster heating rate, thus reducing process time (Huang etal.,
2007; Queiroz etal., 2008; Igual etal., 2010).
8.3Microwave Heating Systems and Equipment

Microwave technology has been steadily gaining importance in the food processing area. Evidence
of this is the enormous sales rates of household ovens and the increase in the spread of microwave
ovens throughout the industrialized world. In the last few years, approximately 10 million microwave ovens have been sold annually in the United States and Europe (Schubert and Regier, 2006).
Basically, a microwave system consists of three parts: (1) the microwave source, (2) the waveguide, and (3) the applicator. The magnetron tube is by far the most commonly used microwave
source for industrial and domestic applications (Schubert and Regier, 2005). A magnetron consists
of a vacuum tube with a central electron-emitting cathode with a highly negative potential. This
cathode is surrounded by a structured anode that forms cavities, which are coupled by the fringing fields and have the intended microwave resonant frequency (Schubert and Regier, 2006). The
waveguides are elements that are used to guide the electromagnetic wave, consisting principally of
hollow conductors, normally with a constant cross section, rectangular and circular forms being of
most practical use. Within the waveguide, the wave may spread out in so-called modes which define
the electromagnetic field distribution within the waveguide (Schubert and Regier, 2005). The applicator is basically the element that contains and distributes the microwave energy that surrounds the
food product to be heated. Common applicators can be classified by type of field configuration into
three types: (1) near-field, (2) single-mode, and (3) multi-mode applicators. Multi-mode applicators
play by far the most important role in industrial and domestic uses because of the typical dimensions of microwave ovens (Schubert and Regier, 2005).
To date, microwave heating has not been used as successfully in the food industry as in households. The development of a nonhomogeneous field distribution has been one of the main factors
299
Microwave Heating Technology
that is limiting the exploitation of this technology to its fullest potential in the food industry. Despite
the fact that the number of working installations increases every year, it is still considered to be
quite low (Hebbar and Rastogi, 2012). Inhomogeneous field distribution may lead to an undesired
inhomogeneous heating pattern, producing hot spots that damage the item being heated and cold
spots where the item may be under-heated or under-processed, thereby compromising product quality, stability, and repeatability (IMS, 2014). Bearing in mind that the homogeneity of the electromagnetic field distribution depends strongly both on microwave equipment features and on food
properties, improvement of industrial microwave systems design could be a key factor to promote a
greater spread of this technology in the industrialized world.
In fact, it could be claimed that microwave systems design has shown a spectacular evolution over the years. Early operational systems included batch processing of, for example, yogurt
in cups (Anonymous, 1980), their primary drawback being their inability to heat materials in
a predictable and uniform manner. Then continuous microwave applicators were developed in
an attempt to solve these problems, which allowed continuous processing to improve heating
uniformity and at the same time accomplish the high throughputs desired by the food industry (Hebbar and Rastogi, 2012). Since then, microwave equipment has improved remarkably.
Figure 8.1 shows a model of the industrial microwave equipment currently used by American and
European companies to heat, cook, and pasteurize different kind of food products. Nowadays,
there is a variety of continuous microwave systems with features that address the major obstacles
to the commercialization of microwave heaters for many industrial applications. For example, the
fact that microwave energy can optionally be irradiated in modern industrial ovens by one highpower magnetron or by several low-power magnetrons, or be used under vacuum conditions, as
in microwave-assisted air-drying and microwave-assisted freeze-drying operations, in order to
improve the efficiency of the process, can be taken as proof of this substantial evolution (Schubert
and Regier, 2005; Vadivambal and Jayas, 2007).
Magnetron
(microwave
energy)
Power
supply
Control
system
Hot
product out
Water
load
Product heating
tubes
Applicators
Cold product out
Figure 8.1 Major components of a model microwave heating system currently used in the food industry.
300
However, the applicator must be considered the essence of these novel systems, given that the
unique structures and geometries of the applicators employed in the currently used operational systems may be considered as the key factor that allows the target material to pass through a uniform
microwave field and efficiently absorb the available microwave energy, thereby providing evident
competitive advantages (IMS, 2014).
8.4Industrial Applications in Food Processing

Microwave energy has been extensively used in the area of food processing for various commercial purposes (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2007). On one hand, microwave heating has become very
popular at the level of household applications, there being a very large number of microwave ovens
in households. In fact, the success of household microwave ovens is such that some products have
been developed especially for them, for example, microwave popcorn (Schubert and Regier, 2006).
On the other hand, this technology is also widespread in the industrialized world. Although microwave heating has not been as effectively used in the food industry as in households (Hebbar and
Rastogi, 2012), industrial applications for both fluids and solid foods do exist (Salazar-Gonzlez
etal., 2012). Nevertheless, in the case of solid or frozen foods, it is normally combined with convective heating. Drying, cooking, blanching, pasteurization, thawing and tempering, microwave
vacuum-drying, and microwave freeze-drying are some of the commercially proven applications
of this technology (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2010; Hebbar and Rastogi, 2012; Salazar-Gonzlez
etal., 2012).
Among the aforementioned food processing operations in which microwave energy may be used
competitively, some specific applications are worth highlighting. First, the finish drying of potato
chips was one of the first large-scale applications of microwave heating in the food processing
industry. In this case, microwaves helped significantly to overcome the difficulties found in conventional potato chip processing by accelerating the dehydration step. Potato chips can be dried conventionally to a moisture content of 68 g water/100 g product and then microwaved to the desired
final moisture level in the product (Salazar-Gonzlez etal., 2012). Nowadays, however, tempering
of meat for further processing, precooking of bacon, pasta drying, and microwave vacuum drying
of fruit juice concentrates are considered to be the most important industrial applications of microwave heating (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2010; Salazar-Gonzlez etal., 2012). Microwave tempering of
meat results are particularly profitable because microwaves can easily penetrate the frozen product,
reaching the inner regions in a short time, whereas conventional tempering leads to a large temperature gradient and takes several days (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2010). Recently, microwave technology
has also been proven to be suitable for industrial sterilization of food products. In this respect, FDA
(Food and Drugs Administration) acceptance has been newly granted for a sweet potato puree product sterilized using continuous flow microwave processing and aseptic packaging. This first industrial implementation of continuous flow microwave sterilization for low-acid products was carried
out by Yamco in Snow Hill, NC (Salazar-Gonzlez etal., 2012) and several microwave-sterilized
products, such as pasta dishes, pasta sauces, and rice dishes are currently being marketed in Europe
by companies such as Tops Foods.
8.5Establishing a Novel Thermal Preservation

Process: Kinetic Data Analysis
Designing a sound thermal treatment, either novel or conventional, requires extensive understanding of the process, the heating behavior of the product, and its impact on a target microorganism,
the establishment of thermal processes being based on two premises: (1) the heat resistance of
microorganisms for each specific product formulation and composition and (2) the heating rate of
the specific product (Awuah etal., 2007).
301
Since safety must always be the primary concern, thermal treatments are constrained by the
requirement to achieve the target lethality, but lethality is not the only aspect to be considered;
quality loss must also be taken into account. Thermal processes tend to be optimized to maximize
microbial and enzyme inactivation and minimize degradation of sensory attributes and loss of nutritional value (Awuah etal., 2007; Wang and Sun, 2012). To perform this optimization, knowledge of
the processing parameters and of the inactivation kinetics of target microorganisms, enzymes, and
quality attributes is of utmost importance (Valdramidis etal., 2012).
The calculations involved in the kinetic studies used to design and optimize conventional heat
processes are well established. However, when it comes to microwave processes, the issue becomes
more complicated, and the main concern lies in the particular form of heating that takes place during microwave exposure (Banik etal., 2003). In conventional heating, a holding period is expected,
but in case of microwaves, the heating that takes place is exclusively non-isothermal (Matsui etal.,
2008). Furthermore, it is usually not possible to fix the parameters that affect the heating process,
such as (1) the heating rate, (2) the range of temperatures at which the samples are exposed, or
(3) provision of appropriate sample homogenization. At present, little is known kinetically about the
general basic relationship between microbial and enzyme inactivation and quality retention in foods
and microwave exposure.
More specifically, focusing on microbial inactivation, Fujikawa etal. (1992), Tajchakavit etal.
(1998), Caumir etal. (2002), Yaghmaee and Durance (2005), and Pina-Prez etal. (2014) have
conducted some of the few studies regarding the kinetics of destruction of foodborne pathogens and
spoilage microorganisms by microwave irradiation. According to their results, microbial inactivation due to microwave processing can be fitted using first-order kinetics, which has been successfully employed to describe destruction of Cronobacter sakazakii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and
Lactobacillus plantarum under microwave processing (Fujikawa et al., 1992; Tajchakavit et al.,
1998; Pina-Prez etal., 2014).
When first-order kinetics models are used to describe the inactivation process, the existence
of a linear relationship between the logarithm of the microbial population and time is assumed.
Two key parameters (D and z values) are then determined from the survival and resistance curves,
respectively (Awuah etal., 2007; Tajchakavit and Ramaswamy, 1997). The D-value represents the
heating time required to reduce 90% of the existing microbial population under isothermal conditions (Equation 8.1). The z-value represents the temperature change that results in a 90% reduction
of the D-value (Equation 8.2).
log

N
t
=
N0
D
(8.1)
where
N is the survivor counts after treatment (CFU/g)
N0 is the initial microorganism population (CFU/g)
t is the processing time (s)
D is the D-value at the temperature studied (s)
log

T T
D
= ref

Dref
z
where
D is the D-value at each temperature studied (s)
Dref is the D-value at reference temperature (s)
T is the processing temperature
Tref is the reference temperature (s)
z is the z-value or temperature sensitivity (C)
(8.2)
302

70
Temperature (C)
60
50
40
30
20
0
(a)
200
400
600
800
Processing time(s)
1000
1200
70
60
Temperature (C)
10
50
40
30
20
10
0
(b)
50
100
150
200
250
Processing time(s)
300
350
Figure 8.2 Mean kiwifruit puree temperature profile for conventional thermal processing (a) at 60C (),
55C ( ), and 50C (-----) and microwave processing (b) at 1000 W (), 900 W ( ), and 600 W (-----).
As previously mentioned, one of the main aspects to take into consideration when performing kinetic
data analyses in microwave processes is the fact that, as opposed to conventional heat treatments, the
heating that takes place is exclusively non-isothermal. This can be seen in Figure 8.2, which shows
temperature profiles of a kiwifruit puree sample subjected to different conventional and microwave
treatments. Accordingly, correction of processing time values for come-up periods is essential prior
to kinetic data analyses. Timetemperature profiles have to be used to calculate the effective time (te)
(Equation 8.3), which represents the isothermal holding time at the selected reference temperature
that causes the same level of microbial destruction as the heating actually applied, as if the microwave treatments had been performed under isothermal conditions (Tajchakavit and Ramaswamy,
1997; Awuah etal., 2007; Matsui etal., 2008; Latorre etal., 2012). Since no holding period at a
preset temperature is expected in microwave processes, the maximum temperature reached during
the treatment is considered as Tref (reference temperature) (Matsui etal., 2008; Latorre etal., 2012).
te = 10(

T ( t ) Tref /z )
dt
where
te is the effective time (s)
T(t) is the processing temperature at each processing time
(8.3)
303
Matsui etal. (2008) proposed a method for calculating D and z-values under microwave heating by
nonlinear regression. According to their reports, the predicted surviving microbial population for
each microwave experimental run can be calculated from Equation 8.4. Then a nonlinear estimation procedure can be used to minimize the sum of squared errors (SSE) between experimental and
predicted surviving microorganisms, defined in Equation 8.5.
N
t
= e =
log
DTref
N 0 predicted
10
((Tref T ( t )) /z )
DTref
dt

(8.4)
where
te is the effective time (s)
DT is the D-value at reference temperature (s)
T(t) is the processing temperature at each processing time
ref
SSE =

N
N
log

N
0 experimental
0 predicted
log N
i =1
(8.5)
where
N is the number of experimental runs
A further aspect to be taken into consideration is that the ability to properly understand and carry
out kinetic data analysis in microwave heating is important not only for the accurate design of preservation processes but also for the establishment of appropriate comparisons between microwave
and conventional heat treatments (Latorre etal., 2012). A comparison of microwave and conventional heating has been the basis of many studies dealing with microwave process applications, such
as those performed by Gentry and Roberts (2005) or Igual etal. (2010). Nevertheless, poor correction of processing time values for come-up periods prior to kinetic data analysis owing to the nonisothermal nature of microwave processes may lead to mistaken interpretations, hinder comparison
of different research works, and cause conflicting opinions regarding the superiority, of microwave
technology over conventional heat treatments.
8.6Microwave Preservation of Fruit-Based

Products: Application to Kiwifruit Puree
As mentioned previously, microwave energy could potentially replace conventional heating for
some specific purposes, and commercially proven applications of this technology in several food
processing operations are a matter of fact (Awuah et al., 2007; Vadivambal and Jayas, 2010).
Nevertheless, microwaves have not yet been exploited to their fullest potential in the food industry
(Picouet etal., 2009).
Nowadays, there is still a gap in knowledge concerning fundamental understanding of the
interactions of microwaves when applied to food, and published information on the impact of this
technology on food safety, stability, and quality aspects is currently both scarce and inconsistent.
304
8.6.1Microbial Decontamination
Thermal preservation treatments are particularly designed to minimize public health hazards and
to extend the useful shelf life of food products, information regarding thermal resistance of microorganisms, pathogenic or otherwise, being crucial to a correct understanding of their lethal effect.
In the present study, the safety of a ready-to-eat kiwifruit puree subjected to microwave heating
was investigated by checking how effective microwaves are at inactivating Listeria monocytogenes,
taken as the pathogen of greatest concern in the product (Figure 8.3). Although fruit products of
an acidic nature, such as kiwifruit (pH = 3.4), have not been recognized as being potentially the
main vehicles for foodborne illnesses, there has been increasing concern because some outbreaks
have been caused by consumption of unpasteurized juices contaminated with Escherichia coli or
Salmonella spp. (Buffler, 1993; Picouet etal., 2009) or of salad vegetables or mixed salads with
L. monocytogenes (EFSA, 2013). L. monocytogenes is currently recommended by the National
Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods as an appropriate target organism to
be used for fruit juices. Despite the fact that the minimum pH allowing growth of this pathogen in
food products has been reported to be pH 4.6 (Carpentier and Cerf, 2011), ready-to-eat fruit-based
acidic products may still represent a potential hazard to health, given the well-known ability of
L. monocytogenes to proliferate in products stored under refrigeration for long periods.
Microwave inactivation of L. monocytogenes in the kiwifruit product (Actinidia deliciosa var.
Hayward) was determined by using the following experimental procedure. The puree was inoculated by adding 1 mL of a concentrated suspension of the microorganism so as to give an initial
L. monocytogenes concentration of 107 CFU/g. The product was then processed in a microwave
oven (model: 3038GC, Norm, China) provided with a turntable plate and a fiber-optic probe
0
1
2
log N/N0
Bearing in mind that the application of microwave heating would be justified only from the standpoint of obtaining high-quality products (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2007), in-depth research work on
the impact of microwaves on microorganisms, enzymes, bioactive compounds, and sensory properties of a variety of foods might make an important contribution to expanding the use of this
technology on an industrial level.
In the present chapter, the particular case of a kiwifruit puree has been selected as a model
fruit-based product to evaluate the impact of a microwave preservation process on some safety and
quality issues.
3
4
FDA
criteria
5
6
7
8
25
50
75
100
Effective time (s)
125
150
175
Figure 8.3 Survival of L. monocytogenes under microwave processing at 1000 W (experimental (), model
()), 900 W (experimental (), model (----)) and 600 W (experimental (), model ()). The plotted values and
error bars represent the average of three replicates and the corresponding standard deviation.
305
(CR/JP/11/11671, OPTOCOM, Germany) which was connected to a temperature datalogger (model:

FOTEMP1-OEM, OPTOCOM, Germany) to continuously record the timetemperature history at
different points in the sample. The safety of the process was evaluated on a sample placed in the
coldest spot, previously identified (data not shown), since contaminating pathogenic microorganisms may survive in cold spots (Nicola, 1998). For each treatment, a 500 g sample was tempered
to an initial temperature of 25C and then heated in the microwave oven in a standard glass beaker
(9cm inner diameter and 12cm height) (BKL3-1K0-006O, Labbox, Spain). Treated samples taken
from the coldest spot were immediately cooled in ice-water until the puree reached 35C (for 1015 s).
Then, immediately after they had been inoculated or subjected to different MW powertime processes, respectively, serial decimal dilutions of the treated and untreated samples were performed
in 0.1% (w/v) sterile peptone water (Scharlab Chemie S.A., Barcelona, Spain). The medium used
for enumerating viable cells was tryptic soy agar (Scharlab Chemie S.A., Barcelona, Spain). The
selected dilutions were incubated at 37C for 48h, after which the counting step was carried out.
The reduction of viable cells was expressed as the decimal logarithm of the quotient of the treated
and untreated cells.
Survival curves were obtained at three power levels (600, 900, and 1000 W) with processing times varying between 50 and 340 s (Figure 8.3). Since L. monocytogenes inactivation under
microwave heating was close to linearity, as previously reported by other authors for S. cerevisiae
and L. plantarum (Fujikawa etal., 1992; Tajchakavit etal., 1998), the data obtained were fitted to
first-order kinetics (see Section 8.5). As mentioned previously, in order to make it possible to compare the kinetic parameters (D-values) obtained under microwave processing at the preset power
levels, kinetic data transformation was performed. Treatment times were corrected, and effective
time values were obtained. Calculated effective times represented the equivalent holding time at
each processing temperature as if the treatments had been performed under isothermal conditions
(Awuah etal., 2007; Matsui etal., 2008; Latorre etal., 2012).
From the inactivation data presented in Figure 8.3, it can be claimed that in the kiwifruit puree
samples subjected to effective times higher than 75 and 82 s at 900 and 1000 W, respectively, the
pasteurization objective of 5D established by the FDA (2004) was accomplished. To the best of our
knowledge, the only published study on microwave Listeria spp. inactivation in fruit-based products is the one conducted by Picouet etal. (2009). They found a 7-log10 cycle reduction of Listeria
innocua in an apple puree subjected to 900 W for 35 s. However, conventional heat inactivation of
L. monocytogenes in different fruit substrates has been evaluated by several authors. For example,
Hassani etal. (2005) reported that 5-log10 cycles of L. monocytogenes were inactivated in a reference medium (pH = 4) when it was subjected to 58C for 84 s, and Fernndez etal. (2007) found a
4-log10 cycle reduction when a sucrose solution (pH = 7, aw = 0.99) was maintained at 60C for 60 s.
The effect of the processing parameters, power (W) and time (s), on inactivation of L. monocytogenes was evaluated statistically. Both factors were shown to affect the L. monocytogenes reduction
level achieved significantly (p < 0.05), although no significant differences were found between 1000
and 900 W. Both higher power level and higher effective time led to significantly higher L. monocytogenes inactivation (p < 0.05) (Figure 8.3). In this respect, the higher the microwave power, the
lower the effective time necessary to reach the same level of inactivation. For example, in order to
achieve the FDA recommendations for pasteurized products (5-log10 cycle inactivation), a considerably longer effective time was required at 600 W (te = 116 s) than at 1000 W (te = 82 s).
Kinetic parameters describing L. monocytogenes inactivation under microwave processing were
calculated (see Section 8.5), providing the following D-values: D 60C = 42.85 0.13 (R2-adjusted =
0.992) at 600 W, D 60C = 17.35 0.34 (R2-adjusted = 0.993) at 900 W, and D 60C = 17.04 0.34 at
1000 W (R2-adjusted = 0.996). Although the kinetics of L. monocytogenes inactivation by thermal
treatment has been studied extensively in various foodstuffs such as beef, milk, chicken, carrot,
cantaloupe, and watermelon juice (Chhabra etal., 1989; Bolton etal., 2000; Sharma etal., 2005),
in reference medium (Hassani etal., 2005, 2007) and in sucrose solutions (Fernndez etal., 2007),
there is no information available about the survival behavior of this pathogen in fruit-based products
306
under microwave heating. Caumir etal. (2002) reported higher D-values for microwave apple juice
pasteurization when the inactivation kinetics of E. coli was evaluated, ranging between D 70.3C =
25.2 s to D38.3C = 238.8 s for 900 and 270 W, respectively. Yaghmaee and Durance (2005) found
similar D-values for microwave inactivation of E. coli in peptone water at 510 W, with D55.6C = 30 s
and D 60.5C = 18 s. Once more, the power level effect can be evaluated by comparing the D 60Cvalues. Microwave processing performed at 900 and 1000 W led to considerably faster bacterium
reduction than processing at 600 W.
Like the results of other authors (Fujikava etal., 1992), the results obtained in this study proved
the effectiveness of microwave heating against foodborne pathogens of concern, such as L. monocytogenes, showing that safety can be properly ensured in fruit-based products by means of this
technology.
8.6.2Enzyme Inactivation
Enzymes are naturally present in fruit and vegetables and can cause product deterioration in
many ways (Whitaker etal., 2003). Enzymes such as peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase
(PPO) are principally responsible for the degradation of color and nutritive value of most food
products of vegetable origin (Queiroz etal., 2008), while pectin methylesterase (PME) causes
changes in the rheological properties of foods by means of pectin de-esterification (Jolie etal.,
2010). In view of the very negative impact that enzymes of this kind could have on kiwifruitbased products, POD, PPO, and PME were selected to check how effective microwave heating
is at inactivating enzymes in the product. To study the effect of microwave power and process
time on the inactivation of POD, PPO, and PME in the product using the minimum number of
experimental trials (Beiro-da-Costa et al., 2006), an experimental design based on a central
composite design was applied (Cochran and Cox, 1957). Power and time were designed to vary
between 300 and 900 W and between 100 and 300 s, respectively. Each microwave treatment
was carried out as described in Section 8.6.1. The temperature of the sample was recorded continuously, in this case in the hottest spot, previously identified (data not shown). Enzyme activity
was measured in all the treated samples and also in the untreated sample, which was used as the
control, following the methods described by De Ancos etal. (1999) for POD and PPO and by
Rodrigo etal. (2006) for PME. The percentage of enzyme inactivation (I) was then calculated
by using Equation 8.6.
I=

AF AT
100
AF
(8.6)
where
AF is the enzyme activity of fresh kiwifruit puree
AT is the enzyme activity of treated kiwifruit puree
The results obtained showed that the inactivation of POD, PPO, and PME in the kiwifruit puree
produced by processing in the desired range of microwave power (300900 W) and time (100300 s)
varied from 43% 6% to 88.0% 0.7%, from 11.4% 0.5% to 81% 2%, and from 19.0%
1.3% to 57% 6%, respectively. These results indicate that, in kiwifruit, PME and POD were the
enzymes that were most resistant and most sensitive to microwaves, respectively, while PPO showed
an intermediate behavior. Similar results have been reported by other authors for this fruit as well
as for strawberry when subjected to conventional heat processes (McFeeters etal., 1985; De Ancos
etal., 1999; Beiro-da-Costa etal., 2008; Terefe etal., 2010). Despite the fact that POD was the
most sensitive enzyme in this case, it could still be considered as a suitable indicator of treatment
efficiency since it has been reported to be very important in kiwifruit because of its high activity and
extensive contribution to the quality of this fruit (Fang etal., 2008).
307
One of the microwave treatments applied (300 W100 s) led to a promotion of PME activity. This
might be related with the low temperature reached by the sample in this case, around 43C, and the
short exposure time. A similar phenomenon was observed by Beiro-da-Costa etal. (2008), who
found a significant (p < 0.05) increase in PME activity in kiwifruit slices subjected to mild heat
treatment prior to inactivation. Another sample subjected to 300 W reached 45C, but the treatment
time was 300 s. Under these conditions, inactivation of PME was only 4.3% (standard deviation 0.7).
The temperature reached by the other samples was in the range of 60C100C.
The results obtained from the enzyme inactivation study were also analyzed by means of the
Response Surface Methodology, yielding 3D plots for POD, PPO, and PME inactivation (Figures 8.4
through 8.6). As can be observed in Figure 8.4, there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in POD
inactivation up to a power of 800 W, decreasing slightly when a higher microwave power was
applied. De Ancos etal. (1999) observed that inactivation of papaya POD behaved similarly under
microwave heating. They reported an increase in peroxidase inactivation when the microwave
power increased from 285 to 570 W for 30 s of processing time. Thereafter, a higher power level
(800 W) did not increase POD inactivation. In accordance with other authors, as the process time
increased, there was a linear increase in POD inactivation (Matsui etal., 2008).
Figure 8.5 shows the PPO inactivation behavior as related to microwave power and process
time. As can be observed, the level of PPO inactivation rose significantly (p < 0.05) as the microwave power increased. However, the increase in the PPO inactivation observed was smaller at
greater powers. Process time also had a significant (p < 0.05) effect, leading to a greater inactivation of this enzyme. Latorre etal. (2012) and Matsui etal. (2008) found that there was a greater
100
POD
80
60
40
20
0
300
400
500
600 700
Power (W)
800
900
300
260
220
180 Time (s)
140
100
Figure 8.4 Response surface plot for the percentage of peroxidase (POD) inactivation in kiwifruit puree
as a function of microwave power and process time.
100
80
PPO
60
40
20
0
300
400
500
600 700
Power (W)
800
900
300
260
220
180
Time (s)
100 140
Figure 8.5 Response surface plot for the percentage of polyphenoloxidase (PPO) inactivation in kiwifruit
puree as a function of microwave power and process time.
308
74
PME
54
34
14
6
26
300
400
500
600 700
Power (W)
800
900
300
260
220
180
140
Time (s)
100
Figure 8.6 Response surface plot for the percentage of pectin methylesterase (PME) inactivation in kiwifruit puree as a function of microwave power and process time.
level of PPO inactivation in red beet and green coconut water, respectively, after longer microwave exposure. De Ancos et al. (1999) observed that PPO inactivation in kiwifruit and strawberry was controlled better by prefixing the power rather than the exposure time. In addition, an
interactive effect on PPO inactivation was observed between microwave power and process time.
As expected, as greater microwave power was applied, the level of PPO inactivation rose faster
in samples subjected to longer treatment times than in kiwifruit puree subjected to shorter treatment times.
From Figure 8.6, it can be said that PME inactivation increased significantly (p < 0.05) as
the microwave power level rose and the processing time lengthened. Similarly, Tajchakavit and
Ramaswamy (1997) reported a linear relationship between time and PME inactivation during
microwave heating of orange juice, and Kratchanova etal. (2004) found, when microwaving orange
peel, that as microwave power increased, PME inactivation also increased.
Summarizing, in accordance with what has been reported by other authors, the results of the
present study highlight the suitability of microwave heating for enzyme inactivation (De Ancos
etal., 1999; Matsui etal., 2008; Latorre etal., 2012), which means that stability and quality can be
properly ensured during the shelf life of fruit-based products by means of this technology (Igual
etal., 2010; Zheng and Lu, 2011).
8.6.3Impact on Sensory Properties

Despite the fact that sensory assessment must be considered as an essential tool to guide any modification of the food processing step (Di Monaco etal., 2005), there still seems to be a need for sensory
analyses that focus on the impact that alternative technologies, such as microwaves, have on food
product characteristics (Da Costa etal., 2000).
In the present work, the following experimental procedure was performed to evaluate the impact
of microwave processing on the most important sensory characteristics of kiwifruit puree. The
effect of the two processing variables (microwave power and process time) was investigated simultaneously by means of a rotatable central composite design (Section 8.6.2). Each microwave treatment was carried out as described in Section 8.6.1. Cooked purees were then cold stored (4C) for
24h before sensory assessment.
A sensory panel with 11 assessors (four men and seven women), recruited from students
and employees of the Food Technology Department (Universitat Politcnica de Valncia) aged
between 25 and 50, was trained over a period of 2 months (12 training sessions). Samples
were tempered at 25C and served in disposable standard-size plastic containers identified with
three-digit codes. In all cases, training and formal assessment were performed in a normalized
309
Table 8.1
Attributes, Scale extremes, and Evaluation Technique Used in Descriptive Sensory
Assessment of Kiwifruit Puree Treated with Microwaves
Attribute and Scale Extremes
Technique
Kiwi odor intensity (low/high)

Atypical odor (low/high)
Typical kiwi color (low/high)
Tone (green/brown)
Lightness (light/dark)
Granularity (low/high)
Visual consistency (low/high)
Sweetness (low/high)
Acidity (low/high)
Astringency (low/high)
Kiwi taste intensity (low/high)
Atypical taste (low/high)
Aftertaste (low/high)
Mouth consistency (low/high)
Observe
Observe
Observe
Observe
Observe
Evenness of the samples surface. Take a spoonful of the sample and observe its surface.
Take enough quantity of kiwi puree with a spoon and drop it to evaluate its visual consistency.
Taste the necessary quantity of kiwi puree to notice the intensity of sweetness.
Taste the necessary quantity of kiwi puree to notice the intensity of acidity.
Taste the necessary quantity of kiwi puree to notice the intensity of astringency.
Taste the necessary quantity of kiwi puree to notice the intensity of typical kiwi taste.
Taste the necessary quantity of kiwi puree to notice the intensity of typical kiwi taste.
Assess the persistence of taste after ingesting kiwi puree.
Taste the sample and evaluate its consistency during ingestion.
tasting room. The selection of descriptors was made over two 1h sessions using the checklist
method (Table 8.1) (Lawless and Heymann, 1998). During the training period, all the treated
and untreated samples were tasted. Tests of three different samples in each session were used
by the panelists for each descriptor until the panel was homogeneous in the ranking of the
samples. Panel members were then trained in the use of scales by using reference samples
(10cm unstructured scales for all the attributes). Panel performance was checked by an analysis
of variance (ANOVA) for the discrimination ability of the panelists and the reproducibility of
their assessments. Once the training period was over, the formal assessment was performed.
To this end, a balanced complete block experimental design was carried out in duplicate (two
d ifferent sessions), using the Compusense program release five 4.6 software (Compusense Inc.,
Guelph, Ontario, Canada) to evaluate the samples. The intensity of the sensory attributes was
scored on a 10cm unstructured line scale. Samples were selected randomly and served with a
random three-digit code. All the treated samples were subjected to formal analysis, as well as
the untreated sample.
The results obtained from the sensory assessment indicated that significant differences
(p < 0.05) among samples were only found in the sensory descriptors typical kiwifruit color,
tone, visual consistency, lightness, and atypical taste. As a general rule, for these five
descriptors (Figure 8.7), noticeable differences increased in treated samples compared with
untreated samples when heating intensity increased. In fact, significant differences were not
found (p > 0.05) between fresh kiwifruit puree and samples processed at 200 W200 s, 300
W100 s, and 600 W60 s as the lines in the spider plot nearly overlapped (Figure 8.7a). Figure
8.7b shows greater differences in each significant attribute between treated samples and fresh
kiwifruit puree, except in visual consistency. Panelists considered that samples 600 W200 s
and 900 W100 s had less lightness and a lower typical kiwifruit color intensity than fresh puree
(p < 0.05). These samples and also the 300 W300 s one seemed to be significantly (p < 0.05)
browner, or rather less green, than the fresh kiwifruit puree. Figure 8.7c shows greater differences in the assessments given to samples 600 W340 s, 900 W300 s, and 1000 W200 s as
compared with fresh kiwifruit puree. In general, the panelists considered that the three processed
samples had significantly (p < 0.05) less lightness and greenness, with a lower typical kiwifruit
color intensity and higher atypical taste intensity; however, they had the same visual consistency
as fresh kiwifruit puree.
310
Fresh kiwifruit
200200
300100
60060
Kiwifruit
color
10
Atypical
taste
Kiwifruit
color
10
Fresh kiwifruit
300300
600200
900100
8
6
4
6
4
Atypical
taste
Tone
(a)
Tone
Visual
consistency
Lightness
Fresh kiwifruit
600340
900300
1000200
Atypical
taste
(b)
Visual
consistency
Lightness
Kiwifruit
color
10
8
6
4
2
Tone
(c)
Visual
consistency
Lightness
Figure 8.7 Average values (on a 010 scale) of panel member assessments of kiwifruit color, tone, lightness, visual consistency, and atypical taste of treated samples: 200 W200 s, 300 W100 s, and 600 W60 s
(a); 300 W300 s, 600 W200 s, and 900 W100 s (b); and 600 W340 s, 900 W300 s, and 1000 W200 s
(c), compared with fresh sample.
Additionally, the XLSTAT 2009 program was employed to make a principal component analysis (using a correlation matrix), with the aim of studying the correlation between the various
microwave treatments applied in the present study and the sensory attributes of kiwifruit puree.
Figure8.8 shows the first two component maps of the principal component analysis constructed
using the sensory data. Two components were extracted that explain 80.59% of the data variability.
The first component explained most of this variance (63.83%); for this reason, it has been used to
describe all the kiwifruit puree characteristics. This component showed a positive correlation with
the sensory attributes typical kiwifruit color intensity, kiwifruit odor intensity, lightness,
acidity, astringency, and kiwi taste intensity and a negative correlation with the sensory
attributes atypical odor, tone, atypical taste, visual consistency, and mouth consistency.
Samples 200 W200 s, 300 W100 s, and 600 W60 s were characterized by a similar acidity,
astringency, color, odor, and taste to the fresh kiwifruit, owing to the less intensive treatments that
were applied to these samples. On the other hand, when the most severe treatments were applied
(600 W340 s, 900 W300 s, and 1000 W200 s), the samples were characterized by a higher
atypical odor and taste, higher visual and mouth consistency, and more browning. Finally, the
granularity and consistency of samples 300 W300 s, 600 W200 s, and 900 W100 s were higher
than those of the other samples.
On the whole, it can be said that the application of intense treatments of high microwave power
mainly affected the color and taste of the kiwifruit puree. Significant perceivable differences
311

2.0
900100
1.5
PC2 (16.76%)
1.0
600200
1000200 Granularity
Visual consistency
300300
Mouth consistency
0.5
0.0
Tone Atypical odour

Atypical taste
Sweetness
0.5
1.0
600340
1.5
2.0
Fresh
Astringency
Typical kiwi color
Acidity
Kiwi odor intensity
Kiwi taste intensity
Lightness
60060
Aftertaste
300100
200200
900300
2
0
PC1 (63.83%)
Figure 8.8 Plot of the first two components of the Principal Component Analysis carried out on fresh and
treated samples and sensory attributes.
between kiwifruit puree samples were only found in the five descriptors mentioned earlier, and
they increased when microwave power increased. As expected, the most severely treated samples
showed the highest variation in these parameters.
8.6.4Impact on Nutrients and Functional Compounds

Epidemiological studies suggest that the consumption of fruit and vegetables may play an important
role in the protection against many chronic diseases. In addition to the well-established benefits
of the essential vitamins and minerals found in these products, they also provide the diet with a
good source of fiber and a diverse array of phytochemicals (Barret and Lloyd, 2012). More specifically, kiwifruit has high vitamin C and E contents and marked antioxidant activity; its vitamin C
content being even higher than that found in grapefruit and orange (Igual etal., 2010), citric fruits
that are widely recognized as good sources of this bioactive compound. In fact, given its excellent
nutritional and functional characteristics, Fiorentino etal. (2009) defined kiwifruit as a unique and
precious cocktail of protective phytochemicals.
The main goal of fruit processing is to create microbiologically safe products and to extend their
shelf life so that they can be consumed all year round and transported safely to consumers all over
the world. However, processors also strive to produce the highest-quality food, attempting to minimize losses of nutritional and functional value (Barret and Lloyd, 2012).
In the present work, the impact of microwaves on the nutritive and functional value of kiwifruit
was investigated by evaluating changes produced in the main bioactive compounds of this fruit by
microwave pasteurization treatment. Processing conditions for puree pasteurization were chosen
(1000 W340 s) on the basis of preliminary experiments, considered in terms of the enzyme (90%
of POD) and microbial (5D of L. monocytogenes) inactivation to be achieved. Then the microwave
treatment was carried out as described in Section 8.6.1. Vitamin C, A, and E contents, total phenols,
total tannins, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity were measured in the treated sample and also
in the untreated sample, which was used as the control, following the methodology described by
Taira (1995), Djeridane etal. (2006), Igual etal. (2010), and Garca-Martnez etal. (2012).
312
Table 8.2
Mean Values and Standard Deviation of the Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E Contents,
Total Phenols, Total Flavonoids, and Total Tannins of Fresh and Microwaved Kiwifruit Puree
Vitamin C (mg/100 g)
Vitamin A (mg/100 g)
Vitamin E (mg/100 g)
Total phenols (mg GAE/100 g)
Total flavonoids (mg RE/100 g)
Total tannins (mg GAE/100 g)
Antioxidant activity (mM Trolox/g)
a
b
Fresh
75.9 1.3a
0.057 0.007b
2.45 0.06b
22 2b
1.16 0.05b
14.40 0.10a
5.81 0.05b
Microwaved
75.5 1.1a
NDa
2.22 0.07a
17.2 0.5a
0.74 0.06a
10.6 0.8a
1.99 0.06a
ND, not detected.

In rows, different letters denote significant differences (p < 0.05) according to the Tukey test.
The bioactive compound contents of the microwaved and control samples are summarized in
Table 8.2. Unexpectedly, vitamin C was not shown to be the compound that was most sensitive to
microwaves in kiwifruit, given that all the components analyzed in the puree decreased significantly
(p < 0.05) as a result of the microwave pasteurization treatment except vitamin C and total tannins,
which remained significantly (p > 0.05) unchanged after processing. Variations in the other component contents due to processing were calculated as the difference in each compound in the treated
puree in comparison with the fresh puree, with reference to 100 g of fresh puree. The calculated
values are 100% of vitamin A, which was shown to be the compound that was most sensitive to
microwaves, 36.2% of total flavonoids, 21.8% of total phenols, 9.4% of vitamin E, and 65.7%
of antioxidant activity. The losses observed in the pasteurized kiwifruit are in the range typically
expected for pasteurization processes, which are considered as treatments severe enough to reduce
the levels of most bioactive compounds present in fruit, with vitamins found to be among the most
heat-sensitive food components (Awuah etal., 2007; Rawson etal., 2011). In both microwave and
conventional heat processes, simple thermal decomposition would appear to be the most likely
cause for these losses, but this degradation may be a complex phenomenon that is also dependent
on oxygen, light, pH, water solubility, and the presence of chemical, metal, or other compounds that
could catalyze deteriorative reactions (Awuah etal., 2007). On the other hand, it is worth highlighting that the concentration of vitamin C, one of the most important bioactive compounds in kiwifruit
because of its particularly high amount and its attributable antioxidant activity, was significantly
(p < 0.05) unaffected by microwaves. Barrett and Lloyd (2012) reviewed the effect of microwave
processing on bioactive compounds in products of vegetable origin and reported that the use of
microwaves leads to a higher retention of vitamin C in most fruits and vegetables than the application of conventional heating.
8.6.5Shelf Life of Fruit-Based Products

To date, many comparative studies have been conducted on the effect of microwaves and conventional heating on various quality aspects of fruits (Barrett and Lloyd, 2012), pointing out advantages
of microwave heating (Huang et al., 2007). However, it should be taken into consideration that,
although published data on the effect of microwaves on safety and quality are available for various
food systems, little still seems to be known about the impact of microwaves on the shelf life and
post-processing quality loss of fruit products. Marketing of these products frequently involves a
storage step, which might also contribute considerably to their final quality, the evolution of their
properties and the growth of microorganisms (pathogens or otherwise) during shelf life being an
important issue to study (Rodrigo etal., 2003).
313
Having shown the suitability of microwave energy for effective inactivation of microorganisms
and enzymes without strongly affecting the nutritive and functional value of the kiwifruit puree,
it was proposed to investigate whether microwaves could potentially replace conventional heating
for pasteurization purposes. To this end, the shelf life of a microwave-pasteurized kiwifruit puree
was compared with that of a conventionally heat-pasteurized kiwifruit puree, on the basis of their
microbial stability and the impact on the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of the product when stored at 4C.
Accordingly, a microwave pasteurization treatment designed on the basis of the enzyme (90%of
POD) and microbial (5D of L. monocytogenes) inactivation to be achieved was applied (1000
W340 s) in the same way as described in Section 8.6.1. Additionally, a conventional thermal
pasteurization treatment, which was equivalent to the microwave process in terms of POD and
L.monocytogenes inactivation, was carried out to establish a comparison between the two technologies. The conventional thermal treatment consisted in heating the sample at 97C for 30 s in a
thermostatic circulating water bath (Precisterm, Selecta, Barcelona, Spain). After the kiwifruit had
been triturated, 20 g of puree was placed in TDT stainless steel tubes (1.3cm inner diameter and
15cm length) and closed with a screw stopper. A thermocouple that was connected to a datalogger
was inserted through the sealed screw top in order to record the timetemperature history of the
sample during treatment. Prior to this heating step, the samples were preheated to 25C to shorten
and standardize the come-up time (150 s). Treated samples were immediately cooled in ice-water
until the puree reached 35C. The treated and untreated kiwifruit purees were then packaged in
clean, sterile plastic tubes (1.7cm inner diameter and 11.8cm length) and then stored in darkness at
4C for 188days. The microbial population and the concentrations of the main bioactive compounds
and antioxidant activity were measured in the samples during storage. Survival of L. monocytogenes was evaluated as previously explained in Section 8.6.1. The total mesophilic bacteria (TMB)
and yeast and mold (Y&M) counts were examined by diluting the uninoculated samples in 0.1%
(w/v) sterile peptone water (Scharlab Chemie S.A., Barcelona, Spain) and enumerating the viable
cells in plate count agar (PCA, Scharlab Chemie S.A., Barcelona, Spain) and potato dextrose agar
(PDA, Scharlab Chemie S.A., Barcelona, Spain) acidified with tartaric acid (10%) (Sigma-Aldrich,
Germany) by adding 1 mL of tartaric acid per 10 mL of PDA, respectively. The selected dilutions
were incubated at 30C for 48h for TMB and at 25C for 5days for Y&M. Additionally, the vitamin C content, total phenols and flavonoids, and antioxidant activity were determined as previously
described (see Section 8.6.3).
The shelf life of the treated products was determined, taking into account the acceptable limit
established by EU legislation (L. monocytogenes 2.0 log10 CFU/g, and TMB and Y&M 3.0 log10
CFU/g) (EU, 2005). On this basis, the shelf life of the microwaved and conventionally pasteurized
purees was found to be 123 and 81days, respectively (Figure 8.9). These results are in the range
of those published by other authors for various fruits subjected to conventional thermal processes.
The shelf life of heat-pasteurized orange and carrot juice (98C for 21 s) stored at 2C, thermally
pasteurized pomegranate (90C for 5 s) stored at 5C, and conventionally heat-pasteurized orange
juice (90C for 50 s) stored at 4C was found to be 70, 120, and 105days, respectively (Leizerson
and Shimoni, 2005; Rivas etal., 2006; Vegara etal., 2013). Picouet etal. (2009) reported that an
apple puree preserved by gentle microwave heating (652 W35 s) had a shelf life of at least 14days
under refrigeration conditions.
The nutritional and functional value of the microwaved and conventionally heat-treated kiwifruit purees at the beginning and end of their shelf life is presented in Table 8.3. Variations in the
components due to the combined effects of processing and storage were calculated as the difference
in each compound in the treated puree at the end of its shelf life in relation to the fresh puree, with
reference to 100 g of fresh puree. Losses of 43%, 23%, and 62% in vitamin C, total phenols, and
total flavonoids were found for the microwave-pasteurized sample (123days at 4C), while losses of
61%, 58%, and 56% in vitamin C, total phenols, and total flavonoids were observed for the conventionally thermally pasteurized puree (81days at 4C), respectively. However, antioxidant activity
314
8
7
log (N)
6
5
4
MW
C
2
0
(a)
25
50
75
100 125
Days
150
175
200
4
3
4
3
0
(b)
log (N)
log (N)
25
50
75
100 125
Days
150
175
200
0
(c)
25
50
75
100 125
Days
150
175
200
Figure 8.9 Survival of (a) L. monocytogenes, (b) total mesophilic bacteria, (c) and Y&M in the kiwifruit
puree (F, fresh; MW, microwaved; C, conventionally heated) during storage at 4C.
Table 8.3
Mean Values and Standard Deviation of the Vitamin C Content (mg/100 g), Total Phenols
(mg GAE/100 g), Total Flavonoids (mg RE/100 g), and Antioxidant Activity (mMTrolox/100g)
of Microwaved and Conventionally Heated Kiwifruit Puree, at the Beginning and at the
End of Their Shelf Life at 4C
Beginning of Shelf-Life
0days
Vitamin C
Total phenols
Total flavonoids
Antioxidant activity
End of Shelf-Life
123 days
81days
Microwaved
Conventionally
heated
Microwaved
Conventionally
heated
64.2 0.7a
25.50 0.07a
0.825 0.004a
1211 37a
62.3 0.7a
22.2 0.3b
0.67 0.02b
1117 27b
37.2 0.6b
13.92 0.08c
0.437 0.013c
478 35c
25.4 1.5c
9.3 0.3d
0.505 0.010d
463 41c
Note: In rows, different letters (a, b, c or d) denote significant differences (p < 0.05) according to the Tukey test.
was reduced by 62% in both cases. These results clearly indicate the superiority of microwaves to
preserve the nutritional and functional value of the product. Igual etal. (2010, 2011) found losses
of similar magnitude and reported that microwave-pasteurized grapefruit juices stored at 18C
preserved total phenols, individual flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity better when compared with
fresh or conventionally pasteurized ones.
315
In view of the results obtained in the present study, microwave heating not only seems to provide greater microbial stability than conventional heat processing, allowing longer preservation of
kiwifruit puree, but also maintains the bioactive compound contents and antioxidant activity of the
product to an equal or greater extent.
8.7 Conclusions and Future Trends

Microwave heating is an interesting technique for processing fruit-based products and preserving their safety and quality during storage. The use of this technology represents a good alternative to conventional heating methods, allowing efficient inactivation of both microorganisms
and enzymes to be achieved, while it does not greatly affect product quality. Considering the
increased demand for high-quality foods as well as cost competitiveness, microwave technology might be taken as an innovative tool to help consumer expectations to be addressed by the
marketing of safe, high-quality, minimally processed fruit-based products. Currently, with the
rapidly changing scenario, the future prospects of microwaves in food processing are bright.
However, the use of microwave technology is still limited at present to selected categories
of high-value food products. Some of the key issues that should be adequately addressed to
make microwave processing more attractive are improvement in equipment design, reduction in
equipment cost, and improvement in process control. Moreover, in general terms, there is a need
for further studies to bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Ministerio de Educacin y Ciencia for the financial support given through
Projects AGL 2010-22176 and AGL2013-48993-C2-2-R and the Generalitat Valenciana for the
financial support given through Project ACOMP/2012/161 and the grant awarded to the author
Mara Benlloch.
References
Anonymous. (1980). The potential of Bach. Food Manufacture, 55(10), 5353.
Awuah, G. B., Ramaswamy, H. S., and Economides, A. (2007). Thermal processing and quality: Principles and
overview. Chemical Engineering and Processing, 46, 584602.
Banik, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., and Ganguly, S. (2003). Bioeffects of microwaveA brief review. Bioresource
Technology, 87, 155159.
Barrett, D. M. and Lloyd, B. (2012). Advanced preservation methods and nutrient retention in fruits and
vegetables. Journal of Food Science and Agriculture, 92, 722.
Beiro-da-Costa, S., Cardoso, A., Martins, L. L., Empis, J., and Moldo-Martins, M. (2008). The effect of
calcium dips combined with mild heating of whole kiwifruit for fruit slices quality maintenance. Food
Chemistry, 108, 191197.
Beiro-da-Costa, S., Steiner, A., Correia, L., Empis, J., and Moldo-Martins, M. (2006). Effects of maturity
stage and mild heat treatments on quality of minimally processed kiwifruit. Journal of Food Engineering,
76, 616625.
Bolton, D. J., McMahon, C. M., Doherty, A. M., Sheridan, J. J., McDowell, D. A., Blair, I. S. etal. (2000).
Thermal inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica in minced beef under laboratory conditions and in sous-vide prepared minced and solid beef cooked in a commercial retort. Journal
of Applied Microbiology, 88, 626632.
Buffler, C. R. (1993). Microwave Cooking and Processing: Engineering Fundamentals for the Food Scientist.
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Caumir, J. A., Celis, J. E., de Brujin, J., and Vidal, L. V. (2002). Pasteurization of Apple juice by using microwaves. LWTFood Science and Technology, 35, 389392.
Carpentier, B. and Cerf, O. (2011). ReviewPersistence of Listeria monocytogenes in food industry equipment and premises. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 145, 18.
316
Chhabra, A. T., Carter, W. H., Linton, R. H., and Cousin, M. A. (1999). A predictive model to determine the
effects of pH, milk fat, and temperature on thermal inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes. Journal of
Food Protection, 62, 11431149.
Cochran, W. G. and Cox, G. M. (1957). Experimental designs. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York.
Da Costa, M. C., Deliza, R., Rosenthal, A., Hedderley, D., and Frewer, L. (2000). Non-conventional technologies and impact on consumer behaviour. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 11, 188193.
De Ancos, B., Cano, M. P., Hernndez, A., and Monreal, M. (1999). Effects of microwave heating on pigment
composition and color of fruit purees. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 79, 663670.
Deliza, R., Rosenthal, A., Abadios, F. B. D., Silva, C. H. O., and Castillo, C. (2005). Application of high
pressure technology in the fruit juice processing: benefits perceived by consumers. Journal of Food
Engineering, 67(1), 241246.
Di Monaco, R., Cavella, S., Torrieri, E., and Masi, P. (2005). Consumer acceptability of vegetable soups.
Journal of Sensory Studies, 22, 8198.
Djeridane, A., Yousfi, M., Nadjemi, B., Boutassouna, D., Stocker, P., and Vidal, N. (2006). Antioxidant activity of some Algerian medicinal plants extracts containing phenolic compounds. Food Chemistry, 97,
654660.
Elez-Martnez, P., Aguil-Aguayo, I., and Martn-Belloso, O. (2006). Inactivation of orange juice peroxidase
by high-intensity pulsed electric fields as influenced by process parameters. Journal of the Science of
Food and Agriculture, 87, 7181.
EU. (2005). Commission regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on the microbiological criteria
of foodstuffs. Official Journal of the European Union, L338, 126.
EFSA. European Food Safety Authority. (2013). Scientific opinion on the risk posed by pathogens in food of
non-animal origin. Part 1 (outbreak data analysis and risk ranking of food/pathogen combinations). EFSA
Journal, 11(1), 30253163.
Fang, L., Jiang, B., and Zhang, T. (2008). Effect of combined high pressure and thermal treatment in kiwifruit
peroxidase. Food Chemistry, 109, 802807.
Fernndez, A., Lpez, M., Bernardo, A., Condn, S., and Raso, J. (2007). Modeling thermal inactivation of
Listeria monocytogenes in sucrose solutions of various water activities. Food Microbiology, 24, 372379.
Fiorentino, A., DAbrosca, B., Pacifico, S., Mastellones, C., Scognamiglio, M., and Monaco, P. (2009).
Identification and assessment of antioxidant capacity of phytochemicals from kiwi fruits. Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57, 41484155.
Food and Drug Administration, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2004). Juice HACCP Hazards
and Controls Guidance. www.fda.gov., United States.
Fujikawa, H., Ushioda, H., and Kudo, Y. (1992). Kinetics of Escherichia coli destruction by microwave irradiation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 58(3), 920924.
Garca-Martnez, E., Igual, M., Martn-Esparza, M. E., and Martnez-Navarrete, N. (2012). Assessment of the
bioactive compounds, color, and mechanical properties of apricots as affected by drying treatment. Food
and Bioprocess Technology, 6, 32473255.
Gentry, T. S. and Roberts, J. S. (2005). Design and evaluation of a continuous flow microwave pasteurization
system for apple cider. LWTFood Science and Technology, 38, 227238.
Hassani, M., lvarez, I., Raso, J., Condn, S., and Pagn, R. (2005). Comparing predicting models for heat
inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at different pH. International
Journal of Food Microbiology, 100, 213222.
Hassani, M., Maas, P., Pagn, R., and Condn, S. (2007). Effect of a previous heat shock on the thermal resistance of Listeria monocytogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at different pHs. International Journal of
Food Microbiology, 116, 228238.
Hebbar, H. U. and Rastogi, N. K. (2012). Microwave heating of fluid foods. In Novel Thermal and Non-Thermal
Technologies for Fluid Foods, Cullen, P. J., Tiwari, B. K., and Valdramidis, V. P. (eds.), Academic Press,
San Diego, CA.
Huang, Y., Sheng, J., Yang, F., and Hu, Q. (2007). Effect of enzyme inactivation by microwave and oven heating
on preservation quality of green tea. Journal of Food Engineering, 78, 687692.
Igual, M., Garca-Martnez, E., Camacho, M. M., and Martnez-Navarrete, N. (2010). Effect of thermal treatment and storage on the stability of organic acids and the functional value of grapefruit juice. Food
Chemistry, 118, 291299.
Igual, M., Garca-Martnez, E., Camacho, M. M., and Martnez-Navarrete, N. (2011). Changes in flavonoid
content of grapefruit juice caused by thermal treatment and storage. Innovative Food Science and
Emerging Technologies, 12, 153162.
IMS. (2014). Industrial microwave systems. www.industrialmicrowave.com. Accessed June 20, 2014.
317
Jolie, R. P., Duvetter, T., Houben, K., Vandevenne, E., Van Loey, A. M., Declerck, P. J. etal. (2010). Plant pectin
methylesterase and its inhibitor from kiwi fruit: Interaction analysis by surface plasmon resonance. Food
Chemistry, 121, 207214.
Kratchanova, M., Pavlova, E., and Panchev, I. (2004). The effect of microwave heating of fresh orange peels on
the fruit tissue and quality of extracted pectin. Carbohydrate Polymers, 56, 181185.
Latorre, M. E., Bonelli, P. R., Rojas, A. M., and Gerschenson, L. N. (2012). Microwave inactivation of red
beet (Beta vulgaris L. var. conditiva) peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase and the effect of radiation on
vegetable tissue quality. Journal of Food Engineering, 109, 676684.
Lawless, H. and Heymann, H. (1998). Sensory Evaluation of Food: Principles and Practices. Chapman & Hall,
New York.
Leizerson, S. and Shimoni, E. (2005). Stability and sensory shelf-life of orange juice pasteurized by continuous
ohmic heating. Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, 40124018.
Matsui, K. N., Gut, J. A. W., de Oliveira, P. V., and Tadini, C. C. (2008). Inactivation kinetics of polyphenol
oxidase and peroxidase in green coconut water by microwave processing. Journal of Food Engineering,
88, 169176.
McFeeters, R. F., Fleming, H. P., and Thompson, R. L. (1985). Pectinesterase activity, pectin methylation, and
texture changes during storage of blanched cucumber slices. Journal of Food Science, 50, 201219.
Nicola, B. (1998). Optimal control of microwave combination ovens for food heating. In Third Karlsruhe
Nutrition Symposium. European Research towards Safer and Better Food. Review and Transfer Congress.
Proceedings Part 2, Gaukeland, V. and Spie, W. E. L. (eds.), Bundesforschungsanstalt fr Ernhrung.
Karlsruhe , Germany, pp. 328332.
ODonnell, C. P., Tiwari, B. K., Bourke, P., and Cullen, P. J. (2010). Effect of ultrasonic processing on food
enzymes of industrial importance. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 21, 358367.
Osorio, O., Martnez-Navarrete, N., Moraga, G., and Carbonell, J. V. (2008). Effect of thermal treatment
on enzymatic activity and rheological and sensory properties of strawberry purees. Food Science and
Technology International, 14(5), 103108.
Picouet, P. A., Landl, A., Abadias, M., Castellari, M., and Vias, I. (2009). Minimal processing of a Granny Smith
apple pure by microwave heating. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 10(4), 545550.
Pina-Prez, M. C., Benlloch-Tinoco, M., Rodrigo, D., and Martnez, A. (2014). Cronobacter sakazakii inactivation by microwave processing. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 7(3), 821828.
Queiroz, C., Mendes, M. L., Fialho, E., and Valente-Mesquita, V. L. (2008). Polyphenol oxidase: Characteristics
and mechanisms of browning control. Food Reviews International, 24, 361375.
Rawson, A., Patras, A., Tiwari, B. K., Noci, F., Koutchma, T., and Brunton, N. (2011). Effect of thermal and
non-thermal processing technologies on the bioactive content of exotic fruits and their products: Review
of recent advances. Food Research International, 44, 18751887.
Rivas A., Rodrigo, D., Martnez, A., Barbosa-Cnovas, G.V., and Rodrigo, M. (2006). Effect of PEF and heat
pasteurization on the physicalchemical characteristics of blended orange and carrot juice. LWTFood
Science and Technology, 3, 11631170.
Rodrigo, D., Arranz, J. I., Koch, S., Frgola, A., Rodrigo, M. C., Esteve, M. J., Calvo, C., and Rodrigo, M.
(2003). Physicochemical characteristics and quality of refrigerated Spanish orange-carrot juices and
influence of storage conditions. Journal of Food Science, 68(6), 21112116.
Rodrigo, D., Corts, C., Clynen, E., Schoofs, L., Van Loey, A., and Hendrickx, M. (2006). Thermal and highpressure stability of purified polygalacturonase and pectinmethylesterase from four different tomato processing varieties. Food Research International, 39, 440448.
Salazar-Gonzlez, C., San Martn-Gonzlez, M. F., Lpez-Malo, A., and Sosa-Morales, M. E. (2012). Recent
studies related to microwave processing of fluid foods. Food Bioprocess and Technology, 5, 3146.
Schubert, H. and Regier, M. (2005). The Microwave Processing of Foods. Woodhead Cambridge, U.K.
Schubert, H. and Regier, M. (2006). Novel and traditional microwave applications in the food industry.
In Advances in Microwave and Radio Frequency Processing: Report from the Eighth conference
on Microwave and High-Frequency Heating. Willert-Porada, M. (eds.), Springer, Berlin, Germany.
Schubert, H. and Regier, M. (2010). The Microwave Processing of Foods. Woodhead, Cambridge, U.K.
Seorans, F. J., Ibez, E., and Cifuentes, A. (2003). New trends in food processing. Critical Reviews in Food
Science and Nutrition, 43(5), 507526.
Sharma, M., Adler, B. B., Harrison, M. D., and Beuchat, L. R. (2005). Thermal tolerance of acid-adapted and
unadapted Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes in cantaloupe juice and
watermelon juice. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 41, 448453.
Taira, S. (1995). Astringency in persimmon. In Fruit Analysis, Linskens, H.-F. and Jackson, J. F. (eds.),
Springer, Berlin, Germany.
318
Tajchakavit, S. and Ramaswamy, H. S. (1997). Thermal vs. microwave inactivation kinetics of pectin methylesterase in orange juice under batch mode heating conditions. LWTFood Science and Technology, 30, 8593.
Tajchakavit, S., Ramaswamy, H. S., and Fustier, P. (1998). Enhanced destruction of spoilage microorganisms
in apple juice during continuous flow microwave heating. Food Research International, 31(10), 713722.
Terefe, N. S., Yang, Y. H., Knoerzer, K., Buckow, R., and Versteeg, C. (2010). High pressure and thermal inactivation kinetics of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase in strawberry puree. Innovative Food Science and
Emerging Technologies, 11, 5260.
Vadivambal, R. and Jayas, D. S. (2007). Changes in quality of microwave treated agricultural products.
Biosystems Engineering, 98, 116.
Vadivambal, R. and Jayas, D. S. (2010). Non-uniform temperature distribution during microwave heating of
food materialsA review. Food Bioprocess Technology, 3, 161171.
Valdramidis, V. P., Taoukis, P. S., Stoforos, N. G., and Van Impe, J. F. M. (2012). Modeling the kinetics of
microbial and quality attributes of fluid food during novel thermal and non-thermal processes. In Novel
Thermal and Non-Thermal Technologies for Fluid Foods, Cullen, P. J., Tiwari, B. K., and Valdramidis, V.
P. (eds.), Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
Vergara, S., Mart, N., Mena, P., Saura, D., and Valero, M. (2013). Effect of pasteurization process and storage
on color and shelf-life of pomegranate juices. LWTFood Science and Technology, 54(2), 592596.
Yaghmaee, P. and Durance, T. D. (2005). Destruction and injury of Escherichia coli during microwave heating
under vacuum. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 98, 498506.
Wang, L. and Sun, D-W. (2012). Heat and mass transfer in thermal food processing. In Thermal Food
Processing: New Technologies and Quality Issues, Sun, D-W. (ed.), CRC Press.
Whitaker, J. R., Voragen, A. G. J., and Wong, D. W. S. (2003). Handbook of Food Enzymology. Marcel Dekker,
Inc., New York.
Zheng, H. and Lu, H. (2011). Effect of microwave pretreatment on the kinetics of ascorbic acid degradation
and peroxidase inactivation in different parts of green asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) during water
blanching. Food Chemistry, 128, 10871093.

Book Chapter - Microwave Heating Technology

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Book Chapter - Microwave Heating Technology

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

8

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

8.2Principles of Microwave Heating

8.3Microwave Heating Systems and Equipment

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Microwave Heating Technology

Cold product out

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

8.4Industrial Applications in Food Processing

8.5Establishing a Novel Thermal Preservation

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Microwave Heating Technology

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Microwave Heating Technology

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

8.6Microwave Preservation of Fruit-Based

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Microwave Heating Technology

(CR/JP/11/11671, OPTOCOM, Germany) which was connected to a temperature datalogger (model:

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Microwave Heating Technology

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

8.6.3Impact on Sensory Properties

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Microwave Heating Technology

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Kiwi odor intensity (low/high)

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Microwave Heating Technology

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Tone Atypical odour

8.6.4Impact on Nutrients and Functional Compounds

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

ND, not detected.

8.6.5Shelf Life of Fruit-Based Products

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology, KHARAGPUR] at 23:45 10 May 2016

Microwave Heating Technology

2016 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Handbook of Food Processing: Food Preservation

8.5Establishing a Novel Thermal Preservation

8.6Microwave Preservation of Fruit-Based