Elea Technology in Germany offers year-round opportunities for visits or insights with in-house webinars, private visits, but also during their annual PEF Advantage Day, which will take place in November.

“It is worth getting to know the technology of Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) more,” the company experts said.

Not only in processing but also in the use of the end product, PEF brings many new opportunities. Vegetables that are usually very stiff can be processed with totally new cuts and shapes, due to the increased flexibility of the vegetable. “For example, two years ago, PEF made it possible for Elea to produce the worlds’ longest French fries,” the company notes.

PEF (Pulsed Electric Fields), also known as electroporation, is a technology that is used in food processing to apply short, targeted electrical pulses to plant and animal cells. As a result, the cell membrane changes and the pores are temporarily “opened”.

There are various areas of PEF application in the food sector. On the one hand, the gentle opening of pores has the effect that relevant ingredients can be extracted more easily. On the other hand, undesirable substances can also be released more easily. A potato, for example, loses excess water through cell disruption, which softens the potato structure and positively influences further processing in all subsequent production steps.

PEF as a technical process for pre-treating raw materials has become very well established in the potato processing industry. Chips and French fry manufacturers benefit from higher product yields, cost savings, and improved product quality.

PEF makes the surface of the raw material smoother and the structure more flexible. This significantly improves the cutting of the vegetables with less breakage and cutting loss. A smooth surface, due to the uniform pore formation created by PEF, enables gentler and shorter frying, blanching, and freezing of the products, which in turn leads to considerable savings in energy, water, and oil consumption.