Effect of ohmic heating temperature and voltage on liquid whole egg processing

The processing of liquid whole egg by ohmic heating (OH) was carried out by combining different voltages (70 and 110 V) and temperatures (57, 60, and 63 °C) in comparison with conventional pasteurization (CPT, 60 °C/3.5 min). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of voltage and temperature of OH processing on energy consumption, pH, color, coagulation capacity, rheology, and volatile and bioactive compounds of liquid whole eggs. All OH samples showed significant differences compared to CPT. However, some parameters showed better behavior at higher electric fields, while others at lower electric fields. OH showed an interaction effect between voltage and temperature on bioactive compounds, improving antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive activities as temperature increases at 70 V and as temperature decreases at 110 V. Regarding coagulation capacity, a slight difference was observed between OH and CPT when 70 V was used, but a higher voltage (110 V) reduced this difference. Therefore, the results suggest that the OH technology has an advantage over conventional pasteurization for liquid whole eggs. Still, the voltage choice may depend on the target temperature to achieve better results.

Industrial relevance

Ohmic heating has already been used for liquid egg processing. However, scientific studies about this technology are still scarce. This research provides novel and reliable information for producers and consumers to improve the efficiency of OH applications.