Claims
- 1. A process for treating vegetables and fruit before cooking in order to reduce their resistance to cutting, characterized by the application of a high electric field directly to the vegetables and/or fruit under conditions such that the resulting increase in the temperature of the vegetables and/or fruit is almost zero or at least sufficiently low as to not amount to a preheating step.
- 2. A process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the electric field is applied through titanium electrodes that are immersed in water in a tank containing the vegetables and/or fruit.
- 3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an electric field of 45 to 65 V/cm is applied during a period between 3 and 5 seconds.
- 4. A process as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, during application of the electric field, the vegetables and/or fruit are immersed in water having a conductivity that is below or equal to the conductivity of the vegetables and/or fruit.
- 5. A process as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the conductivity of the water is below 0.020 S/m.
- 6. A process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the process is applied to processing of potatoes prior to cutting the potatoes into strips for the purpose of producing French fries.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
00 07948 |
Jun 2000 |
FR |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of international application number PCTCA01/009917, filed Jun. 20, 2001.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3997678 |
Vigerstrom |
Dec 1976 |
A |
6093432 |
Mittal et al. |
Jul 2000 |
A |
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2 250 483 |
Jun 1975 |
FR |
2 122 870 |
Jan 1984 |
GB |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
DeBelle, Nele et al. 2000. J. Plant Physiol. vol. 157, pp. 263-272.* |
Rastogi, N. K. et al. 1999. J. Food Science 64(6)1020-1023. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/CA01/00917 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Child |
10/326145 |
|
US |