Impact of high intensity electric field pulses on cell permeabilisation and as pre-processing step in coconut processing

The impact of high intensity electric field pulses (HELP) for cell permeabilisation of coconut was studied. A preliminary investigation of suitable field strength and total energy input for HELP treatment (field strength, 0.1–2.5 kV/cm, number of pulses, 0–200, pulse width, 575 μs and pulse frequency 1 Hz) was carried out. A comparison of the HELP process (E=2.5 kV/cm, n=20 pulses, t=575 μs and frequency 1 Hz) was made with other methods of cell disintegration (e.g. mechanical rupture, thermal treatment, freeze-thaw cycle) on the yield of coconut milk obtained and its protein and fat contents. A combination of HELP treatment and centrifugation (10 000×g for 10 min) was employed as pre-processing step prior to coconut dehydration in a fluidised bed dryer (60°C, air velocity 1 m/s) in an attempt to enhance drying rates. Treatment with HELP under suitable conditions (E=2.5 kV/cm, n=20 pulses, t=575 μs and frequency 1 Hz) resulted in 20% increase in milk yield with reference to the untreated samples. The fat contents of the extracted milk from HELP treated and untreated samples were 58.0% and 61.2%, respectively, and the corresponding protein contents of the aqueous medium after separation by centrifugation were 50.0% and 51.6%. The combination of HELP and centrifugation step resulted in a reduction of approximately 22% of the drying time as compared to the untreated samples which could be of advantage in the production of copra.