Radiofrequency Pasteurization of Dried Vegetables and Spices

The overall goal of the proposed project is to develop a RF pasteurization process for selected dried vegetables and spices to produce safe food ingredients with improved quality as compared to conventional heating. The specific objectives are to: 1. Study dielectric properties of selected dried vegetables and spices including broccoli powder, carrot chips, onion flakes and white/black pepper powders with different temperatures and aw; 2. Investigate the influence of multiple factors in the heating rates and uniformity of RF process when applied to selected dried vegetables and spices, including distance between electrodes, heating time, temperature, continuous/batch modes, packaging size and materials, food composition and density, particle size and shape; 3. Develop strategy and optimize processing conditions to improve heating uniformity involved in RF heating for different food materials.