Seung Ryul Choi

System Design and Performance Analysis of a Quick Freezer using Supercooling

Purpose: This study was conducted for enhancing the performance of a conventional quick freezer by introducing the supercooling state, using a low-temperature coolant. Methods: In the present investigation, the supercooling process was executed prior to quick freezing for reducing the time by which the temperature passes the zone of maximum ice crystal formation. Every food has different nucleation points and hence, we used silicone oil as the coolant for supercooling for easy modification of temperature. Additionally, for quick freezing, we used liquid nitrogen spray. Results: Using the heat exchangertype precooler with silicone oil, the temperature of the chamber was easily changed for enabling supercooling. Particularly, the results of the freezing test with garlic indicated that this system improved the hardness of garlic after it was thawed, compared to the conventional freezing method. Conclusions: Before quick freezing, if the food item is subjected to the supercooling state, the time from nucleation to the temperature reaching the frozen state (-5°C, which is the maximum ice crystal formation zone) will be shorter than that incurred using quick freezing alone. The combination of the heat exchangertype supercooler and liquid nitrogen sprayer is expected to serve as a promising technology for improving the physicochemical qualities of frozen foods.

Study of Radio Frequency Thawing for Cylindrical Pork Sirloin

Purpose: Radio frequency (RF) heating is a promising thawing method, but it frequently causes undesirable problems such as non-uniform heating. This can occur because of the food shape, component distribution, and initial temperature differences between food parts. In this study, RF heating was applied to the thawing of cylindrically shaped pork sirloin by changing the shape of electrodes and the surrounding temperature. Methods: Curved electrodes were utilized to increase the thawing uniformity of cylindrically shaped frozen meat. Pork sirloin in the shape of a half-circle column was frozen in a deep freezer at -70℃ and then thawed by RF heating with flat and curved electrodes. In order to prevent fast defrosting of the food surface by heat transfer from air to the food, the temperature of the thawing chamber was varied by -5, -10, and -20℃. The temperature values of the frozen pork sirloin during RF thawing were measured using fiber-optic thermo sensors. Results: After multiple applications of curved electrodes resembling the food shape, and a cooled chamber at -20℃ the half-cylindrically shaped meat was thawed without surface burning, and the temperature values of each point were similarly increased. However, with the parallel electrode, the frozen meat was partially burned by RF heating and the temperature values of center were overheated. The uniform heating rate and heat transfer prevention from air to the food were crucial factors for RF thawing. In this study, these crucial factors were accomplished by using a curved electrode and lowering the chamber temperature. Conclusions: The curved shape of the electrode and the equipotential surface calculated from the modeling of the parallel capacitor showed the effect of uniform heating of cylindrically shaped frozen food. Moreover, the low chamber temperature was effective on the prevention of the surface burning during RF thawing

Endogenous indole-3-acetic acid and trans-zeatin ribosides in relation to axillary bud formation in standard chrysanthemum

The lateral buds of non-branching chrysanthemum cultivars are affected by temperature and exogenous plant growth regulator (PGR) treatment. The number of axillary buds, endogenous indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and t-zeatin riboside (t-ZR) concentrations by planting date and PGR treatments were investigated in three genotypes. Two non-branching genotypes, ‘Iwanohakusen’ and ‘01B1-8’ and branching type ‘Jinba’ were planted on May 2 and June 29. ‘Jinba’ always bore axillary buds and ‘01B1-8’ showed stronger non-branching traits than ‘Iwanohakusen’. Only 22.9% viable buds developed in the axils of ‘01B1-8’ whereas 68.7% developed in ‘Iwanohakusen’ on the May 2 planting date group. When planting was delayed from May 2 to June 29, the number of axillary buds decreased in both non-branching genotypes. Endogenous IAA concentrations remained unchanged and t-ZR concentrations decreased in all the three genotypes when the planting date was delayed. This reduced t-ZR level corresponds to the increased ratio of IAA/t-ZR. The number of viable axillary buds increased from 21.7% to 50.1% upon ethephon treatment and to 30.3% by synthetic cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) treatment in ‘01B1-8’. Viable axillary buds of ‘01B1-22’ increased from 17.1% to 25.1% and 29.1% respectively. Ethephon and BAP application decreased endogenous IAA contents and increased t-ZR contents. Elevated concentrations of t-ZR rather than IAA probably account for axillary bud formation in non-branching chrysanthemum. Just as the non-branching genotypes, the branching type cultivar ‘Jinba’ showed similar changes in IAA and t-ZR contents according to planting date and exogenous PGR treatments. These results showed that genotypic difference of branching patterns is not a result of concentration-dependent reaction.

Study of Pallet Scale Modified Atmosphere Packaging Films for Reducing Water Condensation

Purpose: The aim of this study was to find an appropriate polymer film, which could reduce the water condensation for pallet-size modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Methods: Five different types of films were selected from several commercialized films. Prior to the real food storage test, plastic boxes with wetted plastic balls were used to simulate the high humidity conditions of real food storage. The initial MAP condition was 5% oxygen and 95% nitrogen, and the O2 concentration, the relative humidity and water condensation inside the films were checked on a daily basis. The MAP test for tomatoes was conducted by using the most appropriate film from the five films examined in this study. Results: Every film except Mosspack® indicated a similar variation in the O2 concentration over the course of time. The relative humidity near the surfaces of all the films except nylon-6 approached saturation conditions over time. For three kinds of films, namely, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film, anti-fogging oriented polypropylene (AFOPP) film, and Mosspack®, the inner surfaces of the films were fully covered with dew after a storage period of a day. Conversely, an area of 4.5% was covered with dew in the case of the poly lactic acid (PLA) film, and there was no dew inside the nylon-6 film. The pallet-size MAP test for tomatoes was conducted by using the nylon-6 film and there was no water condensation inside the nylon-6 film over three weeks of storage. Conclusions: During the pallet scale MAP, water condensation could cause severe fungal infection and wetting of the corrugated box. Hence, it was important to minimize water condensation. This study showed that the MAP films with high WVTR such as nylon-6 and PLA could reduce the water condensation inside the pallet scale MAP.

Effects of Electromagnetic Heating on Quick Freezing

Purpose: Quick freezing is widely used in commercial food storage. Well-known freezing techniques such as individual quick freezing require a low-temperature coolant and small cuts for the heat-transfer efficiency. However, the freezing method for bulk food resembles techniques used in the 1970s. In this study, electromagnetic (EM) heating was applied to improve the quick freezing of bulk food. Methods: During freezing, the surface of food can be rapidly cooled by an outside coolant, but the inner parts of the food cool slowly owing to the latent heat from the phase change. EM waves can directly heat the inner parts of food to prevent it from freezing until the outer parts finish their phase change and are cooled rapidly. The center temperature of garlic cloves was probed with optical thermo sensors while liquid nitrogen (LN) was sprayed. Results: When EM heating was applied, the center cooling time of the garlic cloves from freezing until -10°C was 48 s, which was approximately half the value of 85 s obtained without EM heating. For the white radish cubes, the center cooling time was also improved, from 288 to 132 s. The samples frozen by LN spray with EM heating had a closer hardness to the unfrozen samples than the samples frozen by LN only. Conclusions: The EM heating during quick freezing functions to maintain the hardness of fresh food by reducing the freezing time from 0 to -10°C.

Effects of ultrasonic thawing on the physicochemical properties of frozen pork

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of ultrasonic thawing on physicochemical characteristics of frozen pork sirloin. To determine the velocity of an ultrasonic thawing machine, -80°C frozen pork sirloins were thawed using 132, 580, and 1,000 kHz ultrasonic thawing machines, and the physicochemical properties of pork sirloin thawed with 15°C tap water and those using the ultrasonic thawing machines were compared. As a result, thawing speed by ultrasonic thawing was three times faster than that of tap water, but drip weight loss rate is increased by about 5% during ultrasonic thawing compared to that during thawing in tap water. However, biochemical properties, such as pH, volatile basic nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid, and total aerobic bacteria, were not improved by ultrasonic thawing. Hunter values, such as total color change and redness, improved slightly after 580 kHz ultrasonic thawing. The hardness and chewiness of the pork sirloin decreased significantly after 580 kHz ultrasonic thawing; however, springiness was not changed. These results indicate that ultrasonic thawing is faster than thawing in tap water, but the physicochemical characteristics of frozen pork sirloin was not significantly improve by ultrasonic sound.