Pasteurization of fermented red pepper paste by ohmic heating

Ohmic heating was applied to a Korean traditional fermented food containing red pepper paste, called Gochujang with low thermal conductivity (0.458 W/m k.) The developed system was used to investigate the mechanisms and characteristics underlying the induction of ohmic heating and then, tested the pasteurization effect against microorganisms in fermented red pepper paste. Comparing with conventional heating processes, ohmic heating could provide rapid and uniform heating, thereby is more suitable for pasteurization and sterilization of viscous foods as fermented red pepper paste on industrial thermal processing.