3. Results
This research was divided into three parts to study the behavior of B. cereus spores under PEF. The first section corresponded to the use of high electric fields using a short number of pulses without any refrigeration or recirculation of the product. In these experiments, the outlet temperature was not controlled (see temperature
profile in Fig. 2 for maximum temperature); it was only recorded to see the change of temperature generated due to the intensity of the pulses. In Fig. 2 the effect of the electric field and temperature are shown for the inactivation of spores. Fig. 2a shows similar inactivation patterns for a difference in the electric field intensity of
5 kV cm1. After 20 pulses of 2.5 ms, a 1.5 log reduction of sporeswas achieved using 40 kV cm1. The increase of temperature according to the number of pulses also depended on the applied voltage, showing that the maximum change of temperature during treatment occurred at 40 kV cm1 and 20 pulses (D 52.8 C).