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Publications
Publications (292)
Control of insect pests is a crucial unit operation to save the quality of postharvest agricultural products. Thermal treatments are commonly used to reduce the post-harvest losses of agricultural products without any chemical residues. Among which, microwave (MW) technology has been regarded as a promising alternative to traditional heating method...
The aim of this study was to optimize sequential ultrasound-radio frequency–assisted extraction (URAE) of pectin from pomelo peel. Effects of sonication power and time, radio frequency (RF) heating temperature, and time on the pectin yield (PY) were evaluated. Based upon optimized URAE parameters, the yield, physicochemical, and structure propertie...
Germinated edible seeds and sprouts have attracted consumers because of their nutritional values and health benefits. To ensure the microbial safety of the seed and sprout, emerging processing methods involving physical fields (PFs), having the characteristics of high efficiency and environmental safety, are increasingly proposed as effective decon...
Radio frequency (RF) heating as an emerging technology is widely used to improve cereal-based food quality. To further investigate effects of RF treatment on buckwheat quality, structures and physicochemical properties of protein and starch in buckwheat were evaluated under various temperatures (80, 90, and 100 °C) and holding times (0, 5, and 10 m...
Heat-induced gel properties are important indicators for evaluating meat quality. Conventional water bath (WB) heating is a common method for processing gelatin meat products, but the longer heating times have some adverse effects on their network structures. Therefore, this study aimed to explore a novel approach by combining radio frequency (RF)...
Light, magnetic field and methylation affected the growth and secondary metabolism of fungi. The regulation effect of the three factors on the growth and Monascus pigments (MPs) synthesis of M. purpureus was investigated in this study. 5-azacytidine (5-AzaC), DNA methylation inhibitor, was used to treat M. purpureus (wild-type, WT). 20 μM 5-AzaC si...
Flaxseed is considered as a major raw material for producing functional vegetable oil. To promote the extraction process of flaxseed oil, effects of radio frequency (RF) pretreatment at investigated temperatures (70, 90, 110, 130, and 150 °C) on yield, physicochemical property and sensory quality of flaxseed oil were determined. The results showed...
Sprouts may be contaminated with different pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, which lead far too easily to foodborne outbreaks. The elucidations of microbial profiles in germinated brown rice (BR) are important, but the changes in the microbial composition during germination are unknown. This study aimed to investigate the microbiota compositi...
Highlights
The effect of air temperature and electrode gap (EG) on RF drying efficiency was evaluated.
Drying rate (D r ), the mathematical modeling of drying curves, heating uniformity, effective moisture diffusivity coefficient (D eff ), and quality parameters after drying were analyzed.
Drying rate was accelerated by reducing EG or increasing ai...
Radio frequency (RF) treatment is considered as an efficient and promising physical method for disinfesting and pasteurizing low-moisture agricultural products (LMAP) due to the rapid and volumetric heating. However, non-uniform RF heating is a major obstacle for industrial applications. A square container with ideal dielectric constant was develop...
Industrial-scale radio frequency (RF) heating systems have been extensively used in processing agricultural products and foods. However, small-scale RF heating systems for household applications are yet to be realized. The purpose of this study was to develop small-scale 50 Ω RF heating systems and evaluate its heating performances with cooked rice...
Pectin is a naturally occurring hydrocolloid found in the cell wall and middle lamella of many plants and has numerous functional applications in food and other related industries. The type of extraction methods used in production has a strong influence on the structural or physicochemical properties of the resultant pectin and the potential applic...
Knowledge of the thermal and dielectric properties of wolfberries is essential for understanding the heat transfer and the interaction between the electromagnetic field (10–3000 MHz) and the sample during radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) drying. The thermal and dielectric properties of wolfberries were determined as influenced by moisture co...
Radio frequency (RF) heating as a novel food processing technology holds potential for the modification of starch. To expand the practical application of starch, a 27.12 MHz RF heating and heat block (HB) systems were used and compared to process starches obtained from maize, potato, and pea. The temperature changes and heating uniformity with thes...
Tartary buckwheat was hydrolyzed with α-amylase, pullulanase, α-amylase and pullulanase double enzymes and fermented by Monascus. The fermentation products were named as enzymolysis-Monascus-fermented tartary buckwheat (EMFTB). The composition and content of volatile flavor compounds in EMFTB were investigated. The results showed that α-amylase and...
Buckwheat kernels were susceptible to be contaminated by heat-resistant spores. This study aimed to investigate effects of radio frequency (RF) heating, ultraviolet (UV) light and their combination treatment on the inactivation of B. cereus spores and quality attributes of buckwheat kernels. Results showed that Weibull model well fitted the inactiv...
In this study, the validated computer model was further applied to evaluate effects of aluminum (AL) plate thicknesses, electrical/dielectric properties, surface areas, or air gaps on RF heating behaviors in a rectangular polypropylene (PP) container. Simulated results showed that volumetric temperature uniformity index (TUI) and electric field int...
Radio frequency (RF) heating as an emerging technology has been widely used for tempering and thawing of frozen meat products, while the RF heating non-uniformity is still the main problem before industrial applications. The objective of this study was to provide a new method for improving the RF heating uniformity by adding cold air (−5 °C, 1.5 m/...
Uneven temperature distribution is a major barrier for applying radio frequency (RF) heating to replace traditional thermal treatments in foods or agricultural products processing, such as pasteurization of watermelon seeds. In this study, simulation models of watermelon seeds heated by RF energy were established using the commercial COMSOL softwar...
Pork preservation and cooking are common processes in food production. This study analyzed the influence of cinnamon essential oil nanoemulsions (CEON), ε-polylysine (ε-PL) and CEON/ε-PL on microbial community and quality of pork during refrigerated storage and radio frequency (RF) cooking. Results showed that a stable CEON was prepared with soybea...
Mold infections in almonds are a safety issue during post-harvest, storage and consumption, leading to health problems for consumers and causing economic losses. The aim of this study was to isolate mold from infected almond kernels and identify it by whole genome sequence (WGS). Then, the more heat resistant mold was selected and the thermal inact...
As important primary food crops, sweet potatoes have rich nutritional values. Baking with a single oven is a common method for processing sweet potatoes. Since the single oven has some adverse effects on the product quality, radio frequency (RF) energy as a new heating technology was explored in combined baking with the traditional oven. Effects of...
Non-uniform heating is a major challenge for commercial applications of radio frequency (RF) technology in the food industry. To improve the RF heating uniformity of granular foods, a double screw conveyor was designed and used to investigate effects of conveying direction, screw rotation speed, filling ratio, and electrode gap on the heating rate...
To provide necessary information for further pasteurization experiments and computer simulations based on radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) energy, dielectric and thermal properties of walnut components were measured at frequencies between 10 and 3000 MHz, temperatures between 20 and 80 °C, and moisture contents of whole walnuts between 8.04%...
Radio frequency (RF) treatment is a promising physical insecticidal technique in postharvest grains. The aim of this research was to discuss energy consumption and product quality using high-temperature-short-time RF treatments to completely eliminate Rhyzopertha dominica insect pests in coix seeds. A 6 kW, 27.12 MHz RF system was applied to conduc...
Fermentation strains play a key role in the quality of bread. The combination of yeast and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) may effectively improve the function and nutritional properties of bread. In this study, the dough was fermented to make bread by using single strain ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae , mode A), the combination of two strains ( S. cerevisi...
Dipole loss of main compositions of powdered infant formula milk (PIFM), including whey protein (WP), fat and lactose and the ionic loss of PIFM were analyzed over frequency range of 10 to 3000 MHz at temperature range of 20–80 °C. Dielectric loss factor of PIFM decreased with increasing fat content, while increased with increasing WP content and l...
Alfalfa sprouts have high nutritional values when consumed raw, but are easily contaminated by food pathogens. This study aimed to evaluate effects of essential oil (EO) vapors, RF heating and their combinations on microbial inactivation, germination rate and generated sprouts' quality of alfalfa seeds at moisture contents of 7.52%, 9.53% and 11.45...
Radio frequency (RF) heating is known as capacitive dielectric heating and has been recognized as an innovative emerging technology for food processing. The lower power generation within the product due to the lower frequency and the larger penetration depth of the RF energy due to the longer wavelength make it suitable for bulk size product proces...
Food‐borne or plant diseases mainly rely on the spread of seeds with pathogens. It is vital to eliminate food/seed‐borne pathogens of seeds and their products before commercial import/export or circulation. Radio frequency (RF) heating is identified as an effective method with lack of chemical residues, rapid or volumetric heating and large penetra...
Radio frequency (RF) treatment is a burgeoning method in food processes. RF heating non-uniformity is a main obstacle for industrial implementations and influenced by the geometry of treated materials. In this study, the effect of convex-concavo shapes of the sample top surface and step shapes at the bottom of the rectangular container by adding po...
Microbial contamination is a persistent problem for grain industry. Many studies have shown that radio frequency (RF) heating can effectively reduce pathogens populations in low moisture foods, but there is a lack on the efficacy to decontaminate natural microbiome. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of different RF h...
Radio frequency (RF) treatment is one of the most potential methods for disinfestations and pasteurizations of postharvest agriculture products. Non-uniform heating is the main issue for RF treatment to be used in a large-scale industrial application. A 6 kW, 27 MHz polit-scale RF system was used to reveal the heating uniformity of walnut kernels a...
This study aimed to investigate the inactivation mechanism of Bacillus cereus spores by slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW). Spore inactivation efficacy of SAEW at different available chlorine concentrations (ACC, 20, 60 and 100 mg/L), as well as spore structures change, coat damage, mutagenesis, and inner membrane (IM) properties were examin...
As a novel thermal processing technology, radio frequency (RF) heating has obtained great attentions in recent years due to its fast and volumetric heating characteristics. RF heating has deeper penetration depth and is more suitable for bulk materials, especially for low‐moisture granular or powdery foods. RF treatments have been explored and appl...
Knowledge of the thermal inactivation kinetics of Acidovorax citrulli is essential to design an effective heat treatment protocol for its control on watermelon seeds. The coat and embryo of watermelon seeds were selected as two components to compare the heat resistance of A. citrulli. The embryo was chosen to investigate the influence of different...
Sesame seed and flaxseed are oilseeds with many health benefits but with possible microbial contaminations, especially Salmonella, resulting in a potential health risk when consumed in raw form. In this study, plant essential oils (EOs) vapor, radio frequency (RF) heating and their combined treatments were applied to inactivate inoculated Salmonell...
Non-uniform heating is a main problem for applying radio frequency (RF) treatments to eliminate the seed-borne pathogens in seeds before commercial import/export. In this study, thermal and dielectric properties of watermelon seed coats and embryos with different moisture contents were measured for computer simulation. The simulation model of RF he...
Radio frequency (RF) drying is an emerging technology for food and agricultural products, holding features of rapid, uniform, stable, and volumetric heating, high energy efficiency, and moisture leveling. However, the RF drying with a single stage commonly has drawbacks of unexpected product quality, non-uniform moisture distribution, and prolonged...
A 3-D coupled electromagnetics, heat transfer, and mass transfer model for intermittent microwave drying of jujube fruit was developed to understand and optimize the effect of duty cycle (power level) and initial moisture on the temperature and moisture distributions and the rate of drying. The model was validated using measured temperature, pressu...
Improving radio frequency (RF) heating uniformity is a key to obtain a good pasteurization effect while maintaining the quality of food product. The objective of this study was for providing a new method to improve the RF heating uniformity by adding aluminum foil sheets around the container walls. A 27.12 MHz, 6 kW pilot-scale RF system at an elec...
Mixing and moving of samples during radio frequency (RF) processing have been demonstrated to be efficient ways for improving the heating uniformity. However, the current single or limited moving direction of samples requires a comprehensive and systematic investigation of combined movements in multi-directions. The purpose of this research was to...
The authors make the following corrections to their published paper [1] [...]
Ohmic heating (OH) is a new heating method with high electrothermal conversion, simple equipment, high accuracy of temperature control, and rapid heating. It is used in cooking rice. This study aimed to investigate the effects of OH on the expansion behavior of rice grains, changes in the electrical conductivity (EC) of each component, temperature,...
To develop an efficient simultaneous drying and disinfesting treatment for in-shell walnuts, a 2.4 kW, 27.12 MHz 50 Ω radio frequency (RF) system and a two-stage strategy were applied to investigate the effects of electrode gap, heating rate, and transition temperature on drying characteristics, disinfesting efficacy, and product quality. Peroxide...
Extraction methods directly influence the pectin yield (PY), physicochemical and structure properties from fresh fruits. Radio frequency assisted extraction (RFAE) was used for obtaining pectin from apple pomace by response surface methodology. The kinetics, physicochemical and structure properties of pectin used by RFAE, microwave assisted extract...
Precise and rapid estimations of the top electrode voltage in free-running oscillator (FRO) radio frequency (RF) heating systems are important for effective computer simulation to improve the heating uniformity. In this study, factors affecting the voltage were comprehensively analyzed in the fixed frequency heating system (50-Ω), which was experim...
Tahini and tahini-based products are popular with consumers due to their special flavor and high nutritional values, but often have been linked to Salmonella outbreaks. The objective of this study was to compare effects of different kinds of natural antimicrobials on Salmonella inactivation in undiluted and diluted tahini during thermal treatment a...
A major obstacle for industrial radio frequency (RF) treatments is non-uniform and thermal runaway heating. This study aimed to improve the RF heating uniformity in granular products using a rotation device with sample mixing. After the run-out error of the rotation device met the allowable tolerance range, the RF heating uniformity was evaluated f...
Background: Outbreaks of foodborne pathogens (including Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, etc.) in low-moisture foods (LMFs), such as butter, cereal, cheese, dried vegetable, nut, and spice, are emerging concerns of food safety in recent decades. The food industry is in urgent need for reliable thermal inactivation data...
In the last decades, different non-thermal and thermal technologies have been developed for food processing. However, in many cases, it is not clear which experimental parameters must be reported to guarantee the experiments’ reproducibility and provide the food industry a straightforward way to scale-up these technologies. Since reproducibility is...
Four radio frequency (RF) heating systems with a power of 2 kW and four frequencies of 6.78, 13.56, 27.12, and 40.68 MHz were used to compare the effect of different frequencies on drying characteristics, disinfestation efficacy and product quality of in-shell walnuts. The results showed that with the increase of frequency, the average walnut tempe...
The conventional drying technology prolongs the shelf life of carrots but may cause the serious loss of nutrients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of intermittently rearranging layers on the heating uniformity, drying characteristics and quality of carrot slices under the hot air assisted radio frequency (RF) heating. The carro...
This study was to explore effects of hot air assisted or not assisted radio frequency (RF, 27.12 MHz, 1.4 kW) heating with different electrode gaps (100 mm, 120 mm, and 140 mm) on the water-holding capacity (WHC) of myofibrillar protein (MP) gel and to understand the underlying mechanism through chemical forces, water distribution, and structure. T...
Radio frequency (RF) heating has been widely applied for pasteurizing food products. The pasteurization mechanism of pathogens using RF heating is still not clear. In this study, a 27.12 MHz RF system was used to process walnut shells (9%, w.b.) inoculated with S. aureus ATCC 25923. The changes on the gene level of S. aureus ATCC 25923 were evaluat...
Light or low frequency magnetic field (LF-MF) as one of the cultivation environments affects secondary metabolites (SMs) production of M. purpureus. Phytochrome (Phy) is a hybrid histidine kinase possessing dual properties of photoreceptor and kinase to sense red and far-red light. The interaction effects of LF-MF and light on SMs of M. purpureus w...
The comminuted meat products are popular and important in the global market. Radio frequency (RF) heating has been proposed as a new alternative method for thawing bulk frozen comminuted meat products with the main advantages of rapid and volumetric heating. However, the temperature non-uniformity is the main obstacle for its industrial application...
Nonpathogenic surrogate microorganisms, with a similar or slightly higher thermal resistance of the target pathogens, are usually recommended for validating practical pasteurization processes. The aim of this study was to explore a surrogate microorganism in wheat products by comparing the thermal resistance of three common bacteria in wheat kernel...
China is an important rice producing and consuming country in the world, but pests are extremely prone to occur during rice storage. Many studies have proved that radio frequency (RF) treatments have broad and promise applications in disinfesting grain. A 6 kW, 27.12 MHz RF heating system was used to study the feasibility of controlling lesser grai...
Sweet potato is an important food crop with rich nutritional value, and also a commonly used feed and industrial raw material. However, the quality of sweet potatoes may decline during storage and thermal processes because of enzymatic reaction induced by peroxidase (POD). Radio frequency (RF) blanching was thus proposed to reduce POD activities. E...
This study explored effects of radio frequency (RF, 27.12 MHz, 3 kW) heating replacing the first stage (electrode gaps of 120, 140 and 160 mm) or/and the second stage (95 mm) of the water bath heating on water distribution and structural characteristics of grass carp myofibrillar proteins gels. Compared with control, RF heating (140) during the fir...
In recent years, radio frequency (RF) heating is getting popular as an alternative pasteurization method for agricultural commodities and low moisture foods. Computer simulation is an effective way to help understand RF interactions with food components and predict temperature distributions among food samples after RF treatments. In this study, a c...
Thermal treatments are widely used to control bacterial fruit blotch on watermelon seeds contaminated by pathogens. It is necessary for developing effective heat treatments for seed pasteurization, which will not adversely affect their germination properties. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of moisture content, temperature and...