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Dielectric properties of litchi fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn) at microwave frequencies

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Abstract

The dielectric properties of litchi fruit were determined using the open-ended coaxial probe method. The measurements were performed in the frequency range from 0.5 to 20 GHz during 3 days of storage at room temperature (~  24 °C). The dielectric properties increased with storage time. Additionally, measurements at different temperatures (24, 30, 40 and 50 °C) were determined. The dielectric constant (ε′) decreased with increasing temperature in a frequency range of 0.5–5 GHz; at higher frequencies, ε' increased with increasing temperature. The loss factor (ε″) value increased at frequencies higher than 2 GHz and decreased with increasing temperature. The results will be useful for further applications using microwaves, such as microwave-assisted drying, sensing of quality parameters, modeling, and heating to protect against molds or insects, among other applications.

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Acknowledgements

We thanks to the Laboratory of Characterization of Systems Based on Microwaves at FCE-BUAP (CONACyT Infraestructura 2016 #270761) and VIEP Projects 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias de La Electrónica, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

    Richard Torrealba-Melendez, José Eduardo Miranda-Díaz & Luis Hernández-Ruíz

  2. Facultad de Ciencias de La Computación, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

    Edna Iliana Tamariz-Flores

  3. Departamento de Alimentos, Universidad de Guanajuato, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    María Elena Sosa-Morales

  4. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica Y Electrónica, CONACYT, Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico

    Edgar Colín-Beltran

Authors
  1. Richard Torrealba-Melendez
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  2. Edna Iliana Tamariz-Flores
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  3. María Elena Sosa-Morales
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  4. Edgar Colín-Beltran
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  5. José Eduardo Miranda-Díaz
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  6. Luis Hernández-Ruíz
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Correspondence to Richard Torrealba-Melendez.

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Torrealba-Melendez, R., Tamariz-Flores, E.I., Sosa-Morales, M.E. et al. Dielectric properties of litchi fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn) at microwave frequencies. J Food Sci Technol 57, 2758–2763 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04490-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04490-7

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