3. Results and discussion
Microwave and conventional heating comparison has been the
base of many studies dealing with MW process applications, such
as those performed by Gentry and Roberts (2005) or Igual et al.
(2010). The difficulty of comparing the two technologies lies in
the particular way of heating which takes place during MW treatments
(Banik, Bandyopadhyay, & Ganguly, 2003). While in conventional
heating a holding period is expected, in the case of MW
non-isothermal heating takes place exclusively (Matsui et al.,
2008). Additionally, fixing the parameters that affect the heating
process, such as (i) the heating rate, (ii) the range of temperatures at
which the samples are exposed, or (iii) providing appropriate