Development of Conductive Packaging for Beverage Processing by Ohmic Heating

Abstract

This study was aimed to develop conductive packaging for ohmic heating. Polypropylene (PP) was mixed with conductive material (CM) in the ratios of 70:30 (CM30), 75:25 (CM25), and 80:20 (CM20) (w/w), then the conductive bottles were developed using extrusion blow molding process. The bottles were suspended in different sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) solutions (0.2, 0.3, and 0.5% w/w) as a transmitting current medium for ohmic heating and heated for 8 min. The CM30 and CM 25 had the highest electrical conductivity compared to the CM20, however the CM20 exhibited best processability, hence it was selected to be used for ohmic heating of orange juice. Different concentrations of Na2SO4 solutions had the effects on ohmic heating. The CM20 bottle suspended in 0.2% Na2SO4 solution resulted in the most uniform heating and suitable for ohmic processing of orange juice. The new conductive bottles developed could potentially be used for beverage processing by ohmic heating.