Interested parties from around the world, including Brazil, Turkey, Belgium and Tunisia had registered for the Elea PEF Advantage Day, which took place on October 11 & 12 at the Elea Application Center in Quakenbrueck, Germany.
There, technical presentations by industry knowledgeable experts, machine and application demos, and discussion panels provided insight into the application of Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) and its benefits for the food industry. A special focus this year was on the application of PEF in industrial vegetable processing, as well as the advantages in biotechnology, for example in extraction from yeasts or microalgae.
Particularly regarding vegetables, the effect of the process can be grasped directly, and live. Many of our guests had heard about PEF beforehand, but seeing the effects on the tissue with their own eyes provided completely different insights, according to the feedback. Elea food technologists Kevin Hill and Sam Hopper used a variety of vegetables to explain the benefits resulting from PEF treatment.
Now the guests were able to have a go themselves: sweet potatoes were cut, tomatoes peeled and carrot juice extracted, with the result that PEF has a positive effect at different stages of vegetable processing. This can improve product quality and optimize cutting, blanching, drying or freezing. Significant cost advantages can be achieved by reducing energy consumption and simultaneously increasing yield. In addition, the change in cell structure opens up new possibilities for product development.
Impressions of this year's PEF Advantage Days
"As every year, we did not miss the opportunity to spoil our guests with Elea PEF products from our customers. For lunch, for example, there were PEF-produced French fries from the company Wernsing Feinkost, plus a vegan version of curry sausage from the neighboring DIL Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V. in combination with PEF-treated orange juice from Hoogesteger, as well as freeze-dried fruit from the startup company Frudist and vegetable & potato chips from Vakuum Foods and Amica Chips as snacks," says the organizer.
"We are pleased about a very successful event with many interesting discussions and enthusiastic participants. Direct and personal contact with our customers is very important to us. Even outside the PEF Advantage Days, interested parties are always welcome to experience the PEF advantages live with us and to work out new applications together."
Images: Elea GmbH
For more information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxr-9wg93Y
https://elea-technology.com