Development of equipment and methodology to evaluate the effect of pulsed magnetic fields on food freezing.

• Grant number: 18/05871-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Ernane José Xavier Costa
• Grantee: Ernane José Xavier Costa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ana Carolina de Sousa Silva ; Sergio Paulo Amaral Souto

Abstract

Both static and oscillating (or pulsed) magnetic fields belong to one of the so-called emerging and non-thermal technologies that have been increasingly applied in food, constituting an alternative to conventional conservation treatments involving mainly the use of temperature as a medium for both fresh and processed food. In some cases, the success of applying magnetic fields to food conservation is evident, but in others there are many doubts about the benefits they actually provide due to the contradictions found in studies carried out in which many factors such as intensity and frequency of magnetic fields and the lack of understanding of the mechanisms involved in the interaction between these factors and the characteristics of the food. That is why this project intends to answer the scientific question regarding how and what variables are preponderant in relation to the freezing of food under the action of magnetic fields. In this project the blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum sp.), Which is a fruit appreciated in different parts of the planet, but due to its fragile structure must be cooled or frozen to be distributed as a food model. Because it is a small fruit the blueberry allows the construction of equipment in a reduced scale which will improve the control of the variables in the experimental arrangement as well as in the development of the electronic instrumentation and the equipment of application and control of the magnetic field, another important aspect is the fact of the region that includes the cities of Piracicaba, Pirassununga and São Carlos produce in small properties the blueberry fruit in the state of São Paulo. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ARTEAGA, HUBERT; SILVA, ANA CAROLINA DE SOUSA; TAMBELLI, CAIO EDUARDO DE CAMPOS; SOUTO, SERGIO; COSTA, ERNANE JOSE XAVIER. Using pulsed magnetic fields to improve the quality of frozen blueberry: A bio-impedance approach. LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, v. 169, p. 11-pg., 2022-10-03. (18/05871-3)

MINANO, HUBERT LUZDEMIO ARTEAGA; SILVA, ANA CAROLINA DE SOUSA; SOUTO, SERGIO; COSTA, ERNANE JOSE XAVIER. Magnetic Fields in Food Processing Perspectives, Applications and Action Models. PROCESSES, v. 8, n. 7, JUL 2020. (18/05871-3)

ARTEAGA, HUBERT; ROBLETO-MARTINEZ, EDUARDO; SILVA, ANA CAROLINA DE SOUSA; SOUTO, SERGIO; BATISTA, JACIMARIA; COSTA, ERNANE JOSE XAVIER. Postharvest freezing process assessment of the blueberry structure in three acts: Bioimpedance, color, and granulometry analysis. LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, v. 151, NOV 2021. (18/05871-3)