Electrical Fields in the Processing of Protein-Based Foods
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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Designing Silk-silk Protein Alloy Materials for Biomedical Applications
Published on: August 13, 2014
Ricardo N Pereira1,2, Rui Rodrigues1,2, Zita Avelar1
1CEB-Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
Abstract:
Electric field-based technologies offer interesting perspectives which include controlled heat dissipation (via the ohmic heating effect) and the influence of electrical variables (e.g., electroporation). These factors collectively provide an opportunity to modify the functional and technological properties of numerous food proteins, including ones from emergent plant- and microbial-based sources. Currently, numerous scientific studies are underway, contributing to the emerging body of knowledge about the effects on protein properties. In this review, "Electric Field Processing" acknowledges the broader range of technologies that fall under the umbrella of using the direct passage of electrical current in food material, giving particular focus to the ones that are industrially implemented. The structural and biological effects of electric field processing (thermal and non-thermal) on protein fractions from various sources will be addressed. For a more comprehensive contextualization of the significance of these effects, both conventional and alternative protein sources, along with their respective ingredients, will be introduced initially.
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