Ohmic heating in dairy processing: Relevant aspects for safety and quality

Background: Ohmic Heating (OH) technology is a heating process wherein electric current is passed through the food acting as an electrical resistor, converting the electrical energy into thermal energy. This fact results in shorter heating times compared to the conventional process, which promotes some advantages, such as, the maintenance highest levels of nutritional compounds, the uniformness in heating system and the reduction in fouling formation. The success of the process depends on the parameters related to the food and process itself, such as, frequency, electrical field strength, residence time and electrical conductivity. Scope and approach: This review aims to describe the main factors and parameters involved in this technology, highlighting its effects on quality, microbial inactivation, and fouling during processing of dairy products. Key findings and conclusions: Due to the more rapid and uniform heating, the OH technology has advantages over the conventional processes, such as maintenance of nutritional compounds and reduction of fouling, which are important factors in the dairy products processing. In addition, there are additional effects of electroporation on microbial cells, which promotes further microorganisms inactivation which are problematic for safety of dairy foods. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.