May/June 2021 - 16

TECHNOLOGY
PULSE ELECTRIC FIELD
 PEF technology exposes vegetable cell walls
to electricity bursts as they pass through a
water bath, which results in tissue softening
and loss of reducing sugars and amino
acids. Photo: Elea
applied with other things " can result
in lower acrylamide levels.
" Not that PEF drops acrylamide,
but PEF changes say the leaching
phenomenon into water, which it does,
it also changes the frying rates, which
it certainly does, both of which will
lead to lower acrylamides, " he said.
" Sugar, temperature, time, moisture
level - those are all the inputs for how
much acrylamide you get at the end of
a frying process, " he added.
The reduction of solids in the form of
reducing sugars and amino acids allows
potato processors to replace or reduce
the amount of hot water blanching
or pre-heating in french fry and chip
production.
" If blanching is used to soften alone,
it (PEF) can eliminate the blanching
process, " said Gratzek.
Another cost-saving advantage is the
reduction in the wear of the cutting
blades used in the fry and chip making
process. The PEF technology softens the
cell walls making potatoes easier to cut.
" The cutting is much more smooth,
so you'll have a lot less what's called
specific surface area, " Gratzek said.
" So, that can be coupled with the fact
that the water comes out much more
readily and with less energy leads to
lower oil absorption into the french
fry or the potato chip. " Gratzek added
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that is not a huge amount at this point,
5-10%, but he hopes to further study
the frying process with McDougal.
PEF technology has become the
industry standard among french fry
manufacturers over the past 20 years
and is now being adopted incrementally
by some of the chip and snack food
producers. According to Carl Krueger,
head of engineering at Food Physics
in Boise, Europe is leading the
technological transition, much as it
did in the french fry industry.
" The last couple of years has seen an
expansion of PEF utilization in potato
chips in Europe, " Krueger said. " That's
been significant. Kind of like where we
were in french fries. We're a little bit
kind of riding those coattails behind
them, but we have quite a number of
potato chip manufacturers that we are
talking with that are showing very
strong interest in PEF. "
Krueger said that a common thread
of concern among food manufacturers
when considering new technology is
what is known in the food industry as
" mouth feel, a term used to describe
that quality unique to a specific brand.
Whether it's a secret formula or the
secret sauce, companies are extremely
protective of their brand identity
and preserving customer loyalty. No
company wants to replicate the kind of
public relations fiasco Coca-Cola faced
in the mid-1980s with the introduction
of " New Coke. "
" We actually ran into that with a large
food service customer who didn't want
their product to change because we were
changing technology, " said Krueger.
Krueger said that they were able to
prove in a sustainable fashion that the
PEF process would produce the exact,
same french fry that they had always
produced.
Gratzek believes that advances in
PEF technology will help mainstream
its acceptance in the chip and snack
industry in the future, but he also
recognizes that the food industry is
not always quick to accept innovations.
" Technology adoption in industry,
especial ly the food industry,
is
typically pretty slow, " he said. " It has
to solve a significant problem, bring
significant value in terms of a new
product or innovation, or it has to
save a lot of money. "
Gratzek thinks that one reason why
PEF technology might be adopted
faster in the future is because they've
developed the knowledge and application
techniques that typically is kept in-house
by the chip manufacturers.
" I think that this grant is especially
helpful for us in that it will allow us to
do the research in Boise and Boise State
May/June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May/June 2021
