ARS | Publication request: Treatment protocol development for disinfesting legumes using radio frequency energy

Submitted to: Microwave Power Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 10, 2010
Publication Date: July 15, 2010
Citation: Wang, S., Tiwari, G., Jiao, S., Johnson, J.A., Tang, J. 2010. Treatment protocol development for disinfesting legumes using radio frequency energy. 2010 IMPI 44th Annual Microwave Power Symposium Proceedings. July 14-16, 2010, Denver, CO.

Technical Abstract: A pilot-scale 27 MHz, 6 kW RF unit was used to investigate RF heating and consequent quality attributes in three treated legumes. Only 5-7 min was needed to raise the central temperature of 3 kg samples to 60°C using RF energy, compared to more than 275 min when using forced hot air at 60°C. RF heating uniformity in samples was improved by adding forced hot air and movements on the conveyor. The final temperatures exceeded 55.8°C in the interior and 57.3°C on the surface for all three legumes, resulting in low uniformity index values of 0.014-0.016 and 0.061-0.078 for the interior and surface temperature distributions, respectively. Hot air assisted RF treatments provided good product quality.