Structure Modification of Fruits and Vegetables

The Structure Modification of Fruits and Vegetables Group covers aspects related to the disintegration of plant cells and tissue, the recovery of ingredients as well as their formulation, structure generation and its stabilization. This involves:

• Application of pulsed electric fields as a targeted non-thermal pre-treatment for the disintegration of cell and tissue structures. Resulting benefits such as tissue softening, improved extraction, cutting, drying or peeling are investigated.
• Application of Ohmic heating for cooking and baking applications. Particularities regarding the structure modification during this volumetric short time thermal process are investigated.
• Application of extraction technologies such as supercritical CO₂ extraction for the recovery of valuable ingredients from pre-treated plant tissue.
• Application of formulation technologies such as homogenization, spray drying, freeze drying, and agglomeration in order to improve stability and functionality of ingredients based on structural modification

• Investigation of different mechanisms of structure generation based on different types of energy input