Innovative and low energy microwave assisted freezing process for high quality foods
FREEZEWAVE concerns the freezing of foods under the assistance of low energy microwaves (2450 MHz). Freezing assisted by low energy microwave permits to obtain a higher number of nucleation sites and in the end a higher frozen food quality with less freeze damage. In the case of conventional freezing process, fast freezing is usually recommended, resulting in a reduction of the ice crystals but also an increase in energy demand (low ambient temperature & high air velocity to enhance the rate of heat transfer). FREEZEWAVE proposes to optimise the freezing rate while exposing foods to a small amount of emitted microwave energy in order to obtain high quality frozen food. In the end, FREEZEWAVE project aims at adapting and optimizing the concept to a broader variety of foods (sauce, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables & ready to eat meals) as well as at the designing of an industrial scale equipment.
The novel concept concerns the freezing equipment sector thanks to a French SME partner (SAIREM) and the global frozen food sector. FREEZEWAVE will provide scientific knowledge and new scientific insights in food freezing. Project's outcomes may also be of interest for non-food applications such as in biology and biotechnology. ONIRIS, RISE and TTZ partners are now equipped with different equipment and first results obtained in 2017 confirmed already the interest in this technology. This presentation will propose a state of the art on this technology and a short presentation of the first results obtained.
Project consortium
Coordinated by
ONIRIS (FR)
Partners
SIK Institutet för Livsmedel och Bioteknik AB (SE); TTZ Bremerhaven e.V. (DE); SAIREM (FR)