• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.410-415
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• 1999

Yakju was sterilized with high-voltage pulses of short time of a continuous pulsed electric field (PEF) system. The initial microbial counts of Yakju were $2.2{\times}10^{5}$ CFU/mL for total aerobes. The pH, acidity and electric conductivity of Yakju were 3.82, 0.37% and 1.24 mS/cm, respectively. Yakju was treated with exponential-wave formed electric pulses of 100 Hz for $0{\sim}4000{\mu}s$ under the field strength of $20{\sim}35\;kV/cm$. The lethal effect of electric fields on microorganisms was resulted from the breakdown of the cell membrane induced by the transmembrane electric potential. The critical values of the external field for the sterilization were 16.0 kV/cm for total aerobes. Logarithmic survival rates decreased linearly at low electric field strength, but curvilinearly at high electric field strength with treatment time. The sterilization of Yakju was more largely affected by the electric field strength than by the treatment time. Any changes in pH, acidity, and the growth of microorganisms were not found in the PEF treated Yakju during the storage at both $4^{\circ}C\;and\;30^{\circ}C$.