Improving radio-frequency heating uniformity to ensure food safety

IF 5.8 2区农林科学 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Journal of Food Engineering Pub Date : 2025-08-20 DOI:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2025.112783

Yu Feng , Baichuan Tang , Dingting Zhou , Lihui Zhang , Zhi Huang , Teng Cheng , Shaojin Wang , Xiangyu Guan , Xiaoming Lu

{"title":"Improving radio-frequency heating uniformity to ensure food safety","authors":"Yu Feng , Baichuan Tang , Dingting Zhou , Lihui Zhang , Zhi Huang , Teng Cheng , Shaojin Wang , Xiangyu Guan , Xiaoming Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2025.112783","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Radio frequency (RF) heating is a promising technology for pasteurization and disinfestation of foods and agricultural products processing, while heating non-uniformity remains a critical barrier to industrial application. This review summarised advances in RF-material (dielectric properties) interactions, reviewed industrial and laboratory applications, compared quantitative heating uniformity metrics and analysed the joint effect of RF equipment design and sample-specific dielectric properties on temperature non-uniformity. A three-step optimization framework is proposed: (1) characterizing the product properties, (2) matching or designing the appropriate RF system, auxiliary mixing/rotation and dielectric or metallic materials, and (3) quantifying and iteratively optimizing heating uniformity through experiments or computer simulations. Current advances rely mainly on dynamic mixing/rotation (to exchange hot and cold regions) and electromagnetic field shaping (via electrode redesign and dielectric/metallic coupling), with multiphysics modeling and dielectric-guided design markedly enhancing performance. However, generalizable process selection models and affordable continuous equipment for large-scale application are still lacking. Moreover, integrating real-time sensing, artificial intelligence-driven optimization, and modular hardware is essential for delivering low-carbon, energy-efficient RF processing at industrial scale.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":359,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Food Engineering","volume":"405 ","pages":"Article 112783"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Food Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260877425003188","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) heating is a promising technology for pasteurization and disinfestation of foods and agricultural products processing, while heating non-uniformity remains a critical barrier to industrial application. This review summarised advances in RF-material (dielectric properties) interactions, reviewed industrial and laboratory applications, compared quantitative heating uniformity metrics and analysed the joint effect of RF equipment design and sample-specific dielectric properties on temperature non-uniformity. A three-step optimization framework is proposed: (1) characterizing the product properties, (2) matching or designing the appropriate RF system, auxiliary mixing/rotation and dielectric or metallic materials, and (3) quantifying and iteratively optimizing heating uniformity through experiments or computer simulations. Current advances rely mainly on dynamic mixing/rotation (to exchange hot and cold regions) and electromagnetic field shaping (via electrode redesign and dielectric/metallic coupling), with multiphysics modeling and dielectric-guided design markedly enhancing performance. However, generalizable process selection models and affordable continuous equipment for large-scale application are still lacking. Moreover, integrating real-time sensing, artificial intelligence-driven optimization, and modular hardware is essential for delivering low-carbon, energy-efficient RF processing at industrial scale.

查看原文本刊更多论文

提高射频加热均匀性，确保食品安全

射频（RF）加热是一种很有前途的技术，用于食品和农产品加工的巴氏杀菌和消毒，但加热不均匀性仍然是工业应用的关键障碍。本文综述了射频材料（介电性能）相互作用的进展，回顾了工业和实验室应用，比较了定量加热均匀性指标，并分析了射频设备设计和样品特定介电性能对温度不均匀性的共同影响。提出了一个三步优化框架：(1)表征产品性能；(2)匹配或设计合适的射频系统、辅助混合/旋转和介电或金属材料；(3)通过实验或计算机模拟量化和迭代优化加热均匀性。目前的进展主要依赖于动态混合/旋转（交换冷热区）和电磁场成形（通过电极重新设计和介电/金属耦合），多物理场建模和介电引导设计显着提高了性能。然而，目前仍缺乏可用于大规模应用的通用工艺选择模型和负担得起的连续设备。此外，集成实时传感、人工智能驱动的优化和模块化硬件对于在工业规模上提供低碳、节能的射频处理至关重要。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Food Engineering 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

11.80

自引率

5.50%

发文量

275

审稿时长

24 days

期刊介绍： The journal publishes original research and review papers on any subject at the interface between food and engineering, particularly those of relevance to industry, including: Engineering properties of foods, food physics and physical chemistry; processing, measurement, control, packaging, storage and distribution; engineering aspects of the design and production of novel foods and of food service and catering; design and operation of food processes, plant and equipment; economics of food engineering, including the economics of alternative processes. Accounts of food engineering achievements are of particular value.