• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.250-260
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• 2015

Purpose: Dual cylindrical microwave chambers equipped with an ohmic heating tube were designed and fabricated to maximize the electric field strength for expeditious heat treatment of particulate foods. Methods: The efficacy of the combination heater was investigated by simulating the electric field distribution by using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Results: All components of the designed microwave heating unit were suitable for transmitting maximal microwave power to the load. The simulated electric field distribution implied that single-mode microwave heating would be sufficient for the steady generation of a highly localized heating zone in the cavity. During impedance matching, the calculated reflection coefficient ($S_{11}$) was small, possibly implying minimal power loss and wave reflection in the designed microwave heating chamber. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the possibility of concentrating the microwave power at the centerline for a single-frequency microwave, for thermal treatment of multiphase foods without attenuating the microwave power.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2015

In this paper, ablation rate of $Al_2O_3$ ceramics by femtosecond laser fluence is derived with experimental method. The automatic three axis linear stage makes laser optics to move with high spatial resolution. With 10 times objective lens, minimal pattern width of $Al_2O_3$ is measured in the focal plane. Ablated surface area is shown as linear tendency increasing number of machining times with various laser power conditions. Machining times is most sensitive condition to control $Al_2O_3$ pattern width. Also, the linear increment of pattern width with laser power change is investigated. In high machining speed, the ablation volume rate is more linear with fluence because pulse overlap is minimized in this condition. Thermal effect to surrounding medium can be minimized and clean laser process without melting zone is possible in high machining speed. Ablation volume rate decelerates as increasing machining times and multiple machining times should be considered to achieve proper ablation width and depth.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.408-414
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• 2017

Effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on growth inhibition of indigenous aerobic microorganisms and the quality of mandarin and carrot juices were investigated. Mandarin juice was PEF-treated at 15-23 kV/cm for $23-241{\mu}s$, whereas carrot juice was treated at 13-14 kV/cm for 127-198 s. At $25^{\circ}C$ (inlet temperature), PEF treatments at 23 kV/cm for $104{\mu}s$ and 14 kV/cm for $198{\mu}s$ reduced the numbers of total mesophilic aerobes by $6.3{\pm}0.8$ and $5.5{\pm}0.9{\log}\;CFU/mL$ in mandarin juice and carrot juice, respectively. Elevation of inlet temperature to $40^{\circ}C$ increased the reduction rates in both juices. In general, the treatments resulting in the highest microbial inhibition at 25 and $40^{\circ}C$ did not alter the physicochemical and nutritional properties of both juices (p>0.05). PEF is a feasible technology to pasteurize mandarin and carrot juices commercially, with minimal quality deterioration.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2014

High pressure processing (HPP) is a non-thermal method used to prevent bacterial growth in the food industry. Currently, pasteurization is the most common method in use for most milk processing, but this has the disadvantage that it leads to changes in the milk's nutritional and chemical properties. Therefore, the effects of HPP treatment on the microbiological and chemical properties of milk were investigated in this study. With the treatment of HPP at 600 MPa and $15^{\circ}C$ for 3 min, the quantity of microorganisms and lactic acid bacteria were reduced to the level of 2-3 log CFU/ml, and coliforms were not detected during a storage period of 15 d at $4^{\circ}C$. An analysis of milk proteins, such as ${\alpha}$-casein, ${\beta}$-casein, ${\kappa}$-casein, ${\alpha}$-lactalbumin, ${\beta}$-lactoglobulin by on-chip electorophoresis revealed that the electrophoretic pattern of the proteins from HPP-treated milk was different from that of conventionally treated commercial milk. While the quantities of vitamins and minerals in HPP-treated milk were seen to be comparable to amounts found in raw milk, the enzyme activity of lipase, protease and alkaline phosphatase after HPP treatment was reduced. These results suggest that HPP treatment is a viable method for the control of undesirable microorganisms in milk, allowing for minimal nutritional and chemical changes in the milk during the process.