Ohmic heating (OH) is defined as a process wherein electric
current is passed through materials with the primary purpose
of heating them. In OH there is no need to transfer heat
through solideliquid interfaces or inside solid particles once
the energy is dissipated directly into the foods. A large number
of actual and potential applications exist for OH, including
blanching, evaporation, dehydration, fermentation, extraction,
sterilization, pasteurization and heating of foods to serving
temperature, including in the military field or long-duration
space missions. Additionally to heating, research data suggests
that the applied electric field under OH causes electroporation
of cell membranes.