Ohmic heating – a review

Ohmic heating (OH) is defined as a process wherein electric current is passed through materials with the primary purpose of heating them. In OH there is no need to transfer heat through solid–liquid interfaces or inside solid particles once the energy is dissipated directly into the foods. A large number of actual and potential applications exist for OH, including blanching, evaporation, dehydration, fermentation, extraction, sterilization, pasteurization and heating of foods to serving temperature, including in the military field or long-duration space missions. Additionally to heating, research data suggests that the applied electric field under OH causes electroporation of cell membranes.