Modelling the mechanical properties and sorption behaviour of pulsed electric fields (PEF) treated carrots and potatoes after air drying for food chain management

One of the major challenges of the food industry is to develop more sustainable processing technologies. To address this change, it is necessary to have more information about available innovative technologies and their effect on different food matrices and processes to ensure efficiency in food chain management. The aim of this research was to increase the understanding of the physical modifications induced by the combination of pulsed electric field (PEF) pre-treatment and further drying in carrot and potato tissues by modelling the sorption isotherms and the textural properties. High coefficient of determination up to 0.980 for GAB and 0.977 for BET were obtained confirming the good ability of both models to describe the sorption isotherm of foodstuff. Either BET and GAB classified carrot in a III type shape and potato in II type shape for sorption isotherm. Mechanical properties for carrot and potato considering all PEF treatment and aw levels were reported and fitted by modified Fermi distribution. High coefficient of determination up to 0.995 confirm the ability of Fermi model to describe mechanical properties in relation to water activity (aw).