2.3. RF heating system
A RF heating system with a maximum power of 9 kW at
a frequency of 27.12 MHz was used in this study (Fig.1). This system
was developed and constructed at Seoul National University (Seoul,
Korea) and Dong Young Engineering Co., Ltd. (Gyeongnam, Korea).
The RF treatment cavity consisted of two parallel-plate electrodes
(30.0 35.0 cm; 0.6 cm thick) and the distance between the two
electrodes was 11.0 cm. A sample in a polypropylene bowl was
placed on the center of the bottom electrode. Treatments consisted
of 10 s, 30 s, 50 s, 70 s, and 90 s RF exposure of both creamy and
chunky peanut butter cracker sandwiches in order to maximize the
efficacy of pasteurization while maintaining product quality