Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77

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The use of tylose as a food analog in ohmic heating studies

1
Filiz Icier *, Coskan Ilicali
Department of Food Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Ege University, Bornova, Izmir 35100, Turkey

Received 23 February 2004; accepted 8 July 2004

Abstract

Ohmic heating is an alternative fast heating method for food products. In this study, the tylose samples having different salt con-
centrations and minced beef samples having different fat contents were heated at five different voltage gradients in the range of 10–
50 V/cm. The electrical conductivity–temperature relationships were observed to be linear below 55–60 °C for all voltage gradients
applied. It was found that the tylose samples having 0.5% and 0.67% salt contents gave similar ohmic heating rates and the electrical
conductivity variations with the minced beef samples having higher and lower fat contents, respectively. The system performance
coefficients for tylose samples were in the range of 0.41–0.53, and those of the minced beef samples were in the range of 0.36–
0.48. The predictions of the mathematical model for the system performance coefficient were found to be very accurate (P < 0.01).
Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tylose; Minced beef; Ohmic; Electrical conductivity

1. Introduction current and voltage recorded during ohmic heating lead

Ohmic heating is an alternative heating system for
pumpable foods. It can be used as a continuous in-line
heater for cooking and sterilization of viscous liquids
and mixtures containing particulate food products. Oh-
mic heating is based on the passage of electrical current
through a food product that serves as an electrical resist-
ance (Reznick, 1996; Sastry, 1989). Heat is generated in-
stantly inside the food. The amount of heat generated is
directly related to the current induced by the voltage
gradient in the field, and the electrical conductivity of
the material being heated (Sastry & Li, 1996). The appli-
cability of ohmic heating is therefore dependent on the
product electrical conductivity. Instantaneous values of
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 3884000x2061; fax: +90 232
3427592.
E-mail address: ficier@food.ege.edu.tr (F. Icier).
1
Present address: Department of Process and Food Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400, UPM,
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
to the determination of electrical conductivities at vari-
ous temperatures provided the test-cell dimensions were
known (de Alwis & Fryer, 1992; Reznick, 1996; Qihua,
Jindal, & van Winden, 1993).
Halden, de Alwis, and Fryer (1990) studied the ohmic
heating of pork, pork fat, potato, carrot and the some
fruits immersed in brine solution at a constant voltage
gradient of 10.87 V/cm. They found that the electrical
conductivity changed linearly with temperature. They
also reported that some textural changes were obtained
and starch gelatinization occurred during heating af-
fected the ohmic heating rate. Palaniappan and Sastry
(1991) applied a higher voltage gradient of 60 V/cm to
potato, carrot, chicken and lean beef samples. They
found also a linear relationship between the electrical
conductivity and temperature for the lean beef sample.
Wang and Sastry (1993a, 1993b), Goullieux, Pain, and
Baudez (1996) and Mizrahi (1996) studied the ohmic
heating of different food particles immersed in brine
solutions. They discussed the effect of salt content on
the ohmic heating rate.

0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.07.011
68 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77
Nomenclature
a.c. alternating current
A area of cross-section of the electrodes (m2)
B empirical temperature constant (S/m K), Eqs.
(12) and (13)
C empirical constant (S/m), Eqs. (12) and (13)
Cp specific heat capacity (J/kg K)
d.c. direct current
D the outside diameter of the test cell (m)
E the amount of energy (J)
E_ the rate of energy (W)
Gr Grashof number (dimensionless)
h average heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
I current (A)
k thermal conductivity of the sample (W/m K)
Kc cell constant (1/m)
L the distance between the electrodes (m)
m mass of the sample (kg)
Pr Prandtl number (dimensionless)
Q the amount of energy in the form of heat (J)
r radial distance (m)
R resistance of the sample (m)
Yongsawatdigul, Park, and Kolbe (1995) found that
the electrical conductivity of surimi was dependent on
the amount of added salt. They reported that low ap-
plied voltage gradients between 3.3 and 13.3 V/cm did
not effect the electrical conductivity. Similarly, Wu,
Kolbe, Flugstad, Park, and Yongsawatdigul (1998)
showed that electrical conductivity was dependent on
the salt content and the temperature of surimi at the
frequencies of 30 Hz to 1 MHz. Park, Lin, and Yon-
gsawatdigul (1997) and Park, Yongsawatdigul, and
Kolbe (1998) reported that the ohmic heating method
was used in industrial scale surimi preparation because
it gave good gelling properties to the surimi. Yaser
and Kolbe (2000) reported that ohmic heating of surimi
paste at 1200 V/cm was 11 times faster than the conven-
tional heating performed at 90 °C in a water bath.
Piette and Jacques (1996) described a fat analyzer
having a working principle of ohmic heating and used
this analyzer in fat content determination of ground beef
samples. Bellmer, Tilahun, and Achour (1999) studied
the effect of fat content and particle size on the electrical
conductivity of ground beef samples. Yun, Lee, and
Park (1998) also used ohmic heating to thaw meat
blocks. They showed that ohmic thawing using 60–
120 V at 60 Hz–60 kHz frequencies resulted in less drip
loss and higher water binding capacity for meat blocks.
Ohmic heating can be an alternative heating method
for fish and meat samples. Studies on the modelling of
t time (s)
T temperature (°C)
v volume of the sample (m3)
V voltage applied (V)
q density of the sample (kg/m3)
r specific electrical conductivity (S/m)
Subscripts
adb predicted assuming Qloss to be equal to 0
amb ambient
exp experimental
f final temperature
i initial temperature
mod1 model prediction using linear relation
mod2 model prediction using non-linear relation
nc natural convection
w at the wall
Superscripts
N constant (Eq. (13))
ohmic heating of meat samples and electrical conductiv-
ity changes in model foods are limited.
Tylose (sodium carboxy methyl cellulose) has been
used as a food model for lean beef in freezing and thaw-
ing research by many researchers since it has similar
thermo-physical properties to lean beef having a 74%
moisture content (Abdalla & Singh, 1985; Becker &
Fricke, 1999; Cleland, Cleland, Earle, & Bryne, 1987;
Dolan, Singh, & Heldman, 1987; Hung & Thompson,
1983; Pham, 1996; Sanz, Ramos, & Mascheroni, 1996;
Sheen & Hayakawa, 1991; Succar & Hayakawa, 1983,
1984, 1986).
In this study, the ohmic heating of tylose and minced
beef samples using different voltage gradients was inves-
tigated. Electrical conductivity versus temperature rela-
tionships were obtained. The compositions of the
tylose samples giving similar electrical properties and
ohmic heating curves were determined. The system per-
formances of ohmic heating runs were investigated.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental set-up
The experimental device consisted of a power supply,
an isolating transformer, a variable transformer and a
microprocessor board as shown schematically in
 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the ohmic heating system.
Fig. 1. The ohmic heating test cell was a Pyrex glass
cylindrical sample chamber with a inside diameter of
0.025 m. Seven thermocouple openings were provided
and stainless steel electrodes were secured at both ends
of the test cell by Teflon pressure caps. The unit was de-
signed to a stand in a horizontal position. Teflon-FEP
coated T-type thermocouples (Cole Parmer Inc., USA)
with compression fittings were used to measure the tem-
perature at different sections of the sample in the test
cell. The response characteristics of the thermocouples
for high-voltage gradient heating cases were determined.
Since the microcomputer settings were made by consid-
ering temperature lags during heating, the given temper-
atures were corrected temperature values for ohmic
heating runs.
The microprocessor board monitored the current and
voltage applied and passed this information to the
microcomputer with an RS 232 port at constant time
intervals (1 s). This allowed real-time calculation of the
total power input to the sample at any given time.
2.2. Methodology
Minced beef samples were prepared from beef sam-
ples provided by Pinar Meat Industry S.A., by grinding
them uniformly. Batches having two different composi-
tions of the minced beef were prepared by considering
the compositions used in meat balls in Turkey. Sampling
methods were applied to take the samples from the
batches. Cylindrically shaped minced beef rolls having
a diameter of 0.025 m and a length of 0.03 m were
formed. This shape prepared is similar to that of Turk-
ish meat rolls. The samples were placed between two
electrodes in the test cell and were heated ohmically
using five different voltage gradients in the range of
10–50 V/cm, at 50 Hz a.c.
Tylose (MH 1000, Fluka) has been used as a model
food in freezing and thawing research since samples hav-
ing the same physical properties could be prepared for
different runs. The tylose sample keeps its shape in a
solid form after gelatinization and cooling. Becker and
Fricke (1999), was reported that tylose having a 77%
moisture content has similar thermophysical properties
69
to lean beef having a 74% moisture content. It was also
named as ‘‘the Karlsruhe test substance’’ in the litera-
ture. In this research, the use of tylose as the food analog
in ohmic heating studies was investigated. The electrical
conductivity of the tylose samples and the minced beef
samples were also examined to determine the proper
composition of the tylose samples giving similar electri-
cal properties to the minced beef samples used. Tylose
samples with a 77% moisture content, having salt con-
tents in the range of 0.2–0.78% were prepared. These
tylose samples had the same dimensions as the minced
beef samples and were ohmically heated in the same test
cell. The tylose compositions that gave similar heating
curves during ohmic heating runs were determined as
those having 0.5% and 0.67% salt contents.
The samples were placed in the test cell; the thermo-
couples were inserted and fitted into three different loca-
tions of the sample. The distance between the two
electrodes was 0.03 m and the diameter of the electrodes
was 0.025 m. After the system was sealed, the sample
was ohmically heated up to a temperature of 80 °C at
50 Hz frequency using different voltages to obtain differ-
ent voltage gradients. Voltage, current and temperature
data were logged at 1 s time intervals during heating.
The temperature of each sample was assumed uniform
in the cell, since the maximum difference among the
measured temperatures at different locations was
approximately 2 °C. The experiments were replicated
three times. The average temperature of the replicated
heating experiments was taken as the measured temper-
ature values. The time constants of the Teflon coated
temperature sensors were determined by calibrating
them in calibration solutions.
Total moisture contents of the samples were deter-
mined by the vacuum-oven method mentioned in TS
11566 (Anon., 1995). The compositions of the minced
beef samples were determined by the protein analysis
(Anon., 1995), the fat content determination (Anon.,
1995) and the ash content determination (Anon., 1964)
(Table 1). The density of the samples was determined
by measuring the weight of the samples having a known
volume. The electrical conductivity of the samples was
calculated from voltage and current data using the fol-
lowing equation (Wang & Sastry, 1993b);
L
r¼ ð1Þ
AR
The time–temperature data were plotted to obtain the
ohmic heating curves for the samples. Electrical conduc-
tivity was plotted against the corresponding temperature
to obtain the electrical conductivity curves.
The results were evaluated statistically by using the
SPSS 10.0 Statistical Package. One way Anova, paired
t-test and linear regression were used to analyse the ef-
fect of the process variables on the heating rates and
the electrical conductivities of the samples.
70 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77

Table 1
The compositions of the minced beef samples prepared
Property (%) The minced beef sample The minced beef sample
having lower fat content (mbl) having higher fat content (mbh)
Total moisture 70.1 ± 0.1 65.7 ± 0.1
Protein 18.6 ± 0.05 16.9 ± 0.07
Fat 9.6 ± 0.02 16.1 ± 0.04
Ash 1.2 ± 0.2 0.9 ± 0.2
Others 0.5 ± 0.2 0.4 ± 0.1

2.3. Model & De Witt, 1993, App. A) and the measured temperature
rise in the test cell. However, this term was estimated to be
For the steady state case, the voltage distribution only 1.2–10% of the energy given to the system.
within a conductor developed by combining Ohm
s The heat loss to the surroundings by natural convec-
law and the continuity equation for electric current is tion was calculated from the following equation;
rðrrV Þ ¼ 0 ð2Þ Qnc ¼ hAðT w  T amb ÞDt ð8Þ
The average heat transfer coefficient was calculated from
which can be solved for a liquid (Sastry & Salengke, the following simplified equation given for the appropri-
1998). The average voltage gradient assuming that the ate Gr Æ Pr number range (Geankoplis, 1993);
voltage only changes in the axial direction can be written

1=4
as
h ¼ 1:32 DT ð9Þ
DV D
rV ¼ ð3Þ
L where DT was the average temperature driving force cal-
For a stationary medium, with negligible internal culated from the initial and final outer wall temperatures
heat conduction resistance, the energy balance may be and the ambient temperature. The calculated natural con-
written as vection heat transfer coefficients were small, roughly


 4–6 W/m2 K. The temperature rise in the test cell at the
k o oT oT E_ loss
r þ DV 2 r=ðK c vÞ ¼ qC p þ ð4Þ end of the ohmic heating experiments was between 4 °C
r or or ot v and 32 °C. The heat transfer area was also small. Due to
The E_ loss term in Eq. (4) represents the heat required to these reasons, the heat loss to the surroundings was small
heat the test cell, the electrodes etc., the heat loss to the and could be neglected without any loss in accuracy.
surroundings by natural convection and the portion of Experimental data obtained in this research suggested
the generated heat used for purposes other than heating that the Eloss given in Eq. (7) could be accounted for by
the liquid, i.e. chemical reactions, phase change. the heat and electrical losses in the system and the heat
The energy given to the system was calculated by required to heat the test cell. The electrical energy might
using the current and voltage values recorded during have also caused some chemical and physical changes in
the heating experiments; the system (Assiry, Sastry, & Samaranayake, 2003).
X Since low Eloss would indicate a system with a high per-
Egiven ¼ DV It ð5Þ formance, a system performance coefficient, SPC, was
The heat required to heat the sample to a prescribed defined as;
temperature was calculated as; Qtaken
SPC ¼ ð10Þ
Qtaken ¼ mC p ðT f  T i Þ ð6Þ Egiven

The specific heat capacities of the samples were assumed For a system with zero Eloss, SPC will be equal to 1.
to be independent of temperature. The energy given to If the system performance coefficient is assumed to be
the system will be equal to the energy required to heat constant and the appropriate electrical conductivity
the sample plus the energy loss relations are taken, the energy balance during heating
becomes
Egiven ¼ Qtaken þ Eloss ð7Þ



The energy loss term in Eq. (7) is the sum of the heat re- k o oT oT
r þ SPC DV 2 r=ðK c vÞ ¼ qC p ð11Þ
quired to heat up the test cell, the heat loss to the sur- r or or ot
roundings by natural convection and the electrical where Kc is the cell constant, L/A.
energy which has not been converted into heat. The heat Eq. (11) was solved numerically by the forward finite
required to heat up the test cell was calculated from the difference method. The time step used in the computa-
mass of the test cell, the specific heat of Pyrex (Incropera tions was 0.01 s. The physical properties used in the
 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77 71

Table 2
The parameters and properties used in model calculations
Property or parameter (unit) Sample Value
3
Density (kg/m ) The minced beef (mbl) 1070
The minced beef (mbh) 1070
Tylose 1070
Specific heat (J/kg K)a The minced beef (mbl) 3411
The minced beef (mbh) 3411
Tylose 3710
Thermal conductivity (W/m K)a The minced beef (mbl) 0.51
The minced beef (mbh) 0.51
Tylose 0.51
The diameter of the electrodes (m) 0.025
The distance between electrodes (m) 0.030
a
From Succar and Hayakawa (1983).

computations and the experimental parameters are the tylose samples (Fig. 3), the electrical conductivity
given in Table 2. Specific heat capacity of the samples values increased as the temperature increased up to
was taken as constant for the given temperature range 60 °C.
during ohmic heating. Statistical analyses were per- For the minced beef samples, it is thought that electri-
formed by using the SPSS Statistical Package (1999). cal conductivity may be decreased as a result of chemical
reactions induced by the effect of increase in temperature
and the electrical current. In particular, the denaturation
3. Results and discussion of the proteins may cause changes in the ionic move-
ments and decrease the electrical conductivity. Huang,
The cylindrical minced beef samples were heated in Chen, and Morrissey (1997) applied ohmic heating to
the ohmic heating test cell by using five different voltage frozen fish mince wash water up to different tempera-
gradients. As shown in Fig. 2, as the temperature in- tures and investigated the coagulation of the fish pro-
creased the electrical conductivity of the minced beef teins. They found that the coagulation started at 50 °C
samples increased up to a critical temperature of 45– and increased as the temperature increased. Park et al.
50 °C and then the rate decreased. The lower critical (1998) studied the gelatinization of fish proteins by oh-
temperature values were obtained at the high-voltage mic heating. They reported that gelatinization started
gradients for the minced beef samples. However, for

1.3
Electrical conductivity (S/m)
Electrical conductivity (S/m)

1.2 1.2
1.15
1.1
1.1
1.05 1
1 0.9
0.95
0.8
0.9
0.85 0.7
0.8 0.6
0.75
0.5
0.7
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
(a) Temperature (°C)
(a) Temperature (°C)

1.1 1.7
Electrical conductivity (S/m)
Electrical conductivity (S/m)

1 1.5

0.9 1.3

0.8 1.1

0.7 0.9

0.7
0.6

0.5
0.5
(b) 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Temperature (°C) (b) Temperature (°C)

Fig. 2. Electrical conductivity changes of the minced beef samples Fig. 3. Electrical conductivity changes of the tylose samples during
during ohmic heating: (a) lower fat content (mbl) and (b) higher fat ohmic heating: (a) 0.5% salt content (tyl05), (b) 0.67% salt content
content (mbh). () 10 V/cm, () 20 V/cm, (þ) 30 V/cm, (s) 40 V/cm, (tyl067). () 10 V/cm, () 20 V/cm, (þ) 30 V/cm, (s) 40 V/cm, (n)
(n) 50 V/cm. 50 V/cm.
72 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77

at 50–65 °C and the gel quality of the fish mince heated 65

ohmically was higher than that of the conventional 60

Temperature (°C)
55
heated samples.
50
Wang and Sastry (1997) reported that the electrical 45
conductivity of corn and potato starches decreased after 40
gelatinization. They also concluded that the decrease in 35
the electrical conductivity was caused by a decrease in 30
25
the free moisture content in the samples. Chaiwanichsiri,
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Ohnishi, Suzuki, Takai, and Miyawaki (2001) studied (a)
Time (s)
electrical conductivity changes during gelatinization.
They reported that the electrical conductivity could be 65
enhancing by the ionic movement of the samples. 60

Temperature (°C)
55
In this study, the electrical conductivity of the tylose
50
samples increased as the temperature increased up to 45
60 °C (Fig. 3). Some of the water in the minced beef sam- 40
ples was observed to drip at approximately 50 °C and 35
from the tylose samples above 60 °C and collect at the 30
25
bottom of the test cell. The water-soluble ionic compo- 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
nents may also be removed from the sample by this (b) Time (s)
water loss. It is thought that the textural changes in
the samples occurred as a result of physical and chemical Fig. 4. Ohmic heating curves of the minced beef samples at five
reactions. Especially at high-voltage gradients the water different voltage gradients: (a) lower fat content (mbl) and (b) higher
fat content(mbh). (––) 10 V/cm, ( ) 20 V/cm, ( ) 30 V/cm,
loss from the samples was observed to increase. The gel ( ) 40 V/cm, ( ) 50 V/cm.
form was therefore broken as a result of the water re-
moved. However, the effect of these changes must be
further studied in detail.
Since the gel form of the tylose samples was broken 65
above 60 °C, only the experimental data for tempera- 60
Temperature (°C)

55
tures between 30 °C and 60 °C was used in the compari- 50
son of the results. 45
Bellmer et al. (1999) developed a commercial ohmic 40
35
heating system for ground beef products. They reported 30
that electrical conductivity of ground beef samples de- 25
pended on the drained fat content during ohmic heating. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
However, the voltage gradient applied and the effect of (a) Time (s)
voltage gradient were not discussed. 65
In this research, minced beef samples having two dif- 60
ferent fat contents were heated using voltage gradients
Temperature (°C)

55
in the range of 10–50 V/cm. The effect of voltage gradi- 50
45
ent on the ohmic heating times were found to be statis-
40
tically significant (P < 0.05). As the voltage gradient 35
increased the heating times to reach the prescribed tem- 30
perature decreased, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Although 25
at a voltage gradient of 50 V/cm the minced beef samples 0 50 100 150 200 250

having lower (mbl) and higher (mbh) fat contents were

heated up from 30 °C to 60 °C in similar times, at 10 V/
cm they were heated up at 273 s and 370 s, respectively
(Table 4). In tylose samples, as the salt content increased
the times required to ohmically heat to the prescribed
temperature decreased especially at low-voltage
gradients.
Yongsawatdigul et al. (1995) found that the electrical
conductivity of the Pacific white surimi increased as the
temperature increased during ohmic heating. They re-
ported that the voltage gradients in the range of 3.3–
13.3 V/cm did not significantly affect the electrical
Fig. 5. Ohmic heating curves of the tylose samples at five different
voltage gradients: (a) 0.5% salt content (tyl05) and (b) 0.67% salt
content (tyl067). (––) 10 V/cm, ( ) 20 V/cm, ( ) 30 V/cm,
( ) 40 V/cm, ( ) 50 V/cm.
conductivity. Luzuriaga and Balaban (1996) found simi-
lar results for ohmic thawing of frozen shrimp at voltage
gradients up to 120 V/cm. In this study, the electrical con-
ductivities of the tylose samples and the minced beef sam-
ples showed a typical band having an increasing trend by
 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77 73

increasing temperature between 30 °C and 60 °C as shown Electrical conductivityðrÞ ¼ BT þ C ð12Þ

in Figs. 2 and 3. The effect of the voltage gradients of 40
In addition to this, since the overall effects of voltage
and 50 V/cm for the minced beef samples and 50 V/cm for
gradient on the electrical conductivity were not statisti-
the tylose samples on the electrical conductivity values
cally significant (P < 0.05), the general linear electrical
were shown to be statistically significant (P < 0.5).
conductivity and temperature relationships for the range
For minced beef samples, as the fat content increased
of 10–50 V/cm were obtained for the samples used
the electrical conductivity decreased for the same tem-
(Table 4). Lower regression coefficients compared with
perature and applied voltage gradient. Bellmer et al.
those given in Table 3 were obtained.
(1999) explained the similar effect of drained fat content
Since the experimental electrical conductivity results
on the electrical conductivity during ohmic heating. For
for the minced beef samples given in Fig. 2 showed a
tylose samples, decrease in the salt content had a
non-linear trend with increasing temperature, a non-lin-
depressing effect on the electrical conductivity of the
ear equation shown in Eq. (13) was used to fit the exper-
food samples as mentioned in Wang and Sastry (1993a).
imental data by using the SPSS 10.0 Statistical Package
The linear temperature dependent electrical conduc-
(1999). The constants and the non-linear regression
tivity equations as shown in Eq. (12) and their constants
coefficients are given in Table 5.
for five different voltage gradients are given in Table 3.
Linear relationships having high regression coefficients
were found for the temperature range of 30–60 °C. r ¼ BT N þ C ð13Þ

Table 3
The experimental data and the linear electrical conductivity–temperature relationships of the samples during ohmic heating
Voltage gradient (V/cm) B (Eq. (12)) C (Eq. (12)) R2a Ti (°C) Tf (°C)
The minced beef samples having lower fat content (mbl)
10 0.0118 0.4880 0.975 31.1 60.1
20 0.0164 0.2698 0.961 32.9 60.0
30 0.0159 0.2816 0.973 30.5 61.2
40 0.0173 0.3339 0.957 29.5 54.4
50 0.0153 0.4200 0.914 32.6 60.4
The minced beef samples having higher fat content (mbh)
10 0.0133 0.2598 0.971 29.6 60.0
20 0.0117 0.2675 0.953 30.9 60.2
30 0.0132 0.1790 0.979 29.6 60.4
40 0.0125 0.2768 0.938 31.0 60.7
50 0.0158 0.2580 0.927 30.9 60.1
The tylose samples having 0.5% salt content (tyl05)
10 0.0181 0.0338 0.996 29.7 60.1
20 0.0182 0.0495 0.997 29.7 60.4
30 0.0141 0.2284 0.986 29.6 61.6
40 0.0167 0.0734 0.998 31.9 62.0
50 0.0160 0.2450 0.947 32.2 63.4
The tylose samples having 0.67% salt content (tyl067)
10 0.0173 0.2151 0.994 29.7 60.2
20 0.0219 0.0948 0.996 29.8 60.5
30 0.0160 0.2500 0.982 30.6 60.3
40 0.0208 0.1316 0.985 30.5 60.9
50 0.0200 0.3949 0.948 32.4 62.2
a
Regression coefficient.

Table 4
The overall linear electrical conductivity–temperature relationships of the samples during ohmic heating
Sample B (Eq. (12)) C (Eq. (12)) R2a
The minced beef samples having lower fat content (mbl) 0.0125 0.4584 0.9231
The minced beef samples having higher fat content (mbh) 0.0119 0.2765 0.9212
The tylose samples having 0.5% salt content (tyl05) 0.0182 0.0388 0.9750
The tylose samples having 0.67% salt content (tyl067) 0.0174 0.2088 0.9456
a
Regression coefficient.
74 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77

Table 5
The non-linear electrical conductivity–temperature relationships of the minced beef samples during ohmic heating
Voltage gradient (V/cm) B (Eq. (13)) N (Eq. (13)) C (Eq. (13)) R2a
The minced beef samples having lower fat content (mbl)
10 0.871 0.241 1.153 0.986
20 1.026 0.250 1.687 0.948
30 1.236 0.234 2.005 0.985
40 1.837 0.261 3.425 0.975
50 1.082 0.241 1.595 0.937
The minced beef samples having higher fat content (mbh)
10 0.657 0.287 1.088 0.967
20 0.802 0.251 1.285 0.967
30 0.727 0.278 1.313 0.987
40 1.201 0.210 1.828 0.966
50 1.023 0.246 1.638 0.944
a
Non-linear regression coefficient.

inside the samples. In other words, the energy loss term

Similar regression coefficients to those given in Table 3
were obtained. The linear and non-linear temperature
dependent electrical conductivity relationships were used
in the mathematical model calculations.
The temperature values of the samples inside the test
tube during heating were close to each other. The max-
imum temperature difference measured at different loca-
tions during heating was 2 °C. For five different voltage
gradients, the ohmic heating operation was mathemati-
cally modeled and the heating times were predicted. As
a first approximation, it was assumed that all of the elec-
trical energy given to the system was converted to heat
in Eq. (4) was assumed to be 0.
The predictions obtained by the numerical solution of
Eq. (4) with a zero loss term, tadb, are also shown in
Table 6. The mathematical model predicted higher heat-
ing rates, which led to smaller heating times than the
experimental results. The electrical energies given to
the system and the heat taken by the minced beef and
tylose samples were calculated by using the experimental
data, and the system performance coefficients, SPCs cal-
culated for each ohmic heating experiment are also
shown in Table 4. For the minced beef samples the SPCs
were in the range of 0.36–0.48, which indicated that

Table 6
The SPC values of the samples during ohmic heating used in the mathematical model and model predictions
Voltage gradient (V/cm) Qtaken (J) Qgiven (J) SPC texp (s) tadb (s) tmod1 (s) tmod2 (s)
The minced beef samples having lower fat content (mbl)
10 1508 3864 0.390 273 104 267 270
20 1458 3626 0.402 64 25 61 63
30 1712 4119 0.416 34 13 31 32
40 1613 4279 0.377 16 6 15 15
50 1777 4993 0.356 11 4 11 11
The minced beef samples having higher fat content (mbh)
10 1637 4562 0.359 370 133 370 370
20 1575 3712 0.424 82 34 81 81
30 1662 3750 0.443 36 17 38 37
40 1677 3674 0.456 20 9 18 18
50 1707 3580 0.477 12 5 10 10
The tylose samples having 0.5% salt content (tyl05)
10 1680 3975 0.423 310 140 331 326
20 1700 3404 0.500 73 35 69 70
30 1700 3633 0.468 32 16 34 34
40 1554 3371 0.461 19 9 19 19
50 1875 4297 0.436 11 5 11 11
The tylose samples having 0.67% salt content (tyl067)
10 1681 3694 0.453 239 118 259 254
20 1694 3210 0.528 53 28 53 53
30 1643 3476 0.473 28 13 28 28
40 1674 3627 0.462 16 7 15 15
50 1644 4005 0.411 9 4 9 9
 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77 75

52–64% of the electrical energy given to the system was 70

65
not used in heating up the test sample. For the tylose 60

Temperature (°C)
55
samples, SPC values were higher, the range being 50
0.41–0.53. Icier (2003) reported that the SPC values 45
40
for the liquid samples were in the range of 0.47–0.92 35
30
during ohmic heating. This result suggests that in the 25
ohmic heating of solid samples, the energy loss depends 20
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
on the properties of the sample to be heated and has to (a) Time (s)
be considered in the design of ohmic heaters. However,
1.4
this point must be further studied in detail.

Electrical conductivity (S/m)

1.2
The electrical energy given to the system was greater
1
than the heat taken by the system. The difference be-
0.8
tween the two was called energy loss, Eloss in this work.
0.6
The heat loss to the surroundings by natural convection
0.4
was calculated to be very small, therefore it was consid-
0.2
ered negligible. The average heat transfer coefficients
0
were calculated as 3–6 W/m2 K during ohmic heating. 20 30 40 50 60 70
The heat required to heat up the test cell was estimated
to be 1.2–10% of the energy given to the system. SPC
Fig. 6. The comparisons of the electrical conductivities and ohmic
values were lower and the sensible heat required to heat
heating curves of the tylose samples having 0.67% salt content (tyl067)
up the test cell was too small to account for the energy and minced beef samples having lower fat content (mbl) at 10 V/cm.
loss term, Eloss. Therefore, it was concluded that not () ty1067, (s) mbl.
all of the electrical energy was converted into heat in
the solid samples. A portion of the electrical energy in-
put was used for physical, chemical and electrochemical 70
65
changes in the samples as mentioned in Assiry et al. 60
Temperature (°C)

(2003). It is rather difficult to comment on the exact nat- 55

50
ure of this loss. However, from the experimental data 45
obtained it is clear that this loss does not depend on 40
35
the voltage gradient applied, statistically (P < 0.01). 30
For same voltage gradients, the conversion of electrical 25
20
energy into heat in the samples having different compo- 0 5 10 15 20 25
sitions was larger. Therefore, the system was performing (a) Time (s)
better. System performance coefficients, SPCs, quantify 1.4
this effect.
Electrical conductivity (S/m)

1.2
The mathematical model was modified by taking the
1
energy losses in the system into account by using Eq.
0.8
(11). The heating times, tmod1 and tmod2, from 30 °C to
0.6
60 °C were predicted numerically by using the linear
0.4
and non-linear electrical conductivity models respec-
0.2
tively. The level of agreement between the predicted
0
and experimental heating times was very good 20 30 40 50 60 70
(P < 0.01). At high-voltage gradients, the predictions
using the non-linear equation for the electrical conduc-
tivity gave similar predictions to those of the linear rela- Fig. 7. The comparisons of the electrical conductivities and ohmic
tionship. At low-voltage gradients, heating times heating curves of the tylose samples having 0.5% salt content (tyl05)
and minced beef samples having higher fat content (mbh) at 10 V/cm.
predicted by using the non-linear electrical conductivity
() ty105, (s) mbh.
equation were closer to experimental heating times than
those by using the linear equation (Table 6).
For the temperature range studied, tylose samples tent of 0.67% and the minced beef samples having a
showed similar heating curves and electrical conductiv- lower fat content gave good agreement. At all voltage
ity changes to those of the minced beef samples. Espe- gradients, the agreement between changed after critical
cially, the level of the agreement between the tylose temperatures where reached, after which the electrical
samples having a salt content of 0.5% and the minced conductivity showed a decreasing trend. Critical temper-
beef samples having a higher fat content was good (Figs. atures were 55–60 °C for the minced beef samples and
6 and 7). Similarly, the tylose samples having a salt con- above 65 °C for tylose samples. As the voltage gradient
76 F. Icier, C. Ilicali / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 67–77
applied increased, critical temperature values for all
samples decreased. In addition to this, the decrease in
the electrical conductivities above the critical tempera-
ture values decreased the heating rates of the samples.
One way Anova and paired t-test results showed that
no significant differences were obtained between the
heating times and the electrical conductivities of the ty-
lose samples having a 0.5% salt content and the minced
beef samples having higher fat contents (P < 0.05). Sim-
ilarly the heating times and the electrical conductivities
of the second pair, the tylose samples having a 0.67%
salt content and the minced beef samples having lower
fat contents, were not statistically different (P < 0.05).
In conclusion, tylose can be used as a food analog by
adjusting the salt content to give similar ohmic heating
effects to those of the minced beef samples used. In this
study, tylose samples having 0.5% and 0.67% salt con-
tents gave good agreement with the minced beef samples
of certain compositions. It is thought that the results ob-
tained in this study can be useful in further studies on
the detailed ohmic heating modeling by using tylose
samples as a food analog. Since SPCs are lower in heat-
ing of solid samples, the design of ohmic heaters to be
used in solid samples must be more critical.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported by Ege University Scientific
Research Projects Fund, Project no: 2001/MUH/03,
Turkey.
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