describes the relationship between electrical conductivities
of samples and temperature values. For given carrot samples,
electrical conductivities were lower than those of sodium chloride
solutions used in the experiments. Linear trends were observed for
electrical conductivities of sodium chloride solutions. As temperature
increased, electrical conductivities of 0.2% and 0.5% NaCl solutions
increased from 0.593 and 1.060 S/m to 1.254 and 2.237 S/m,
respectively. Carrot samples experienced a deflection in their electrical
conductivities at about 50 C. Significant changes in the conductivity
values of vegetable tissues could be due to heat-induced
quality deterioration, such as cell wall breakdown, tissue damage,
or other mechanisms like electro-osmosis, electric field induced
plasmolysis and enhanced transport across the cell membranes
were applied simultaneously, there was no significant temperature difference between solid and liquid
phases. Energy efficiency of combination heating was higher than microwave heating and a maximum
increase in energy conversion of 12.8% was obtained. The findings opened new and very promising
opportunities to thermally process particulate foods with improved uniformity, organoleptic, and nutritional
quality in addition to reduced food safety problems.