Electro-plasmolysis of alfalfa mash

Alfalfa cell structure must be disrupted in other to extract juice efficiently. The objective of this study was to investigate the plasmolysis of alfalfa using both pulsed electric field (PEF) application and mechanical pressing. Fresh Alfalfa mash were PEF-treated through a high voltage generator at the electric field strength of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 kV/cm, capacitance of 1μF, and pulse numbers of 10-200. The PEF treated alfalfa mash with 81% moisture content was mechanically expressed at the pressures of 0.5, 2.0 and 4.0 MPa using an Instron Universal Testing Machine. The quantity of juice expressed, impedance level and damage degrees of the alfalfa were measured. Results indicate that damage degree increased as the pulse number increased. There were significant increases in juice extraction as the pulse number increased at all the levels of pressure used. Energy due to mechanical pressing decreased by 125% in PEF treated samples. Pore displacement of the alfalfa mash after pressing was higher in PEF treated than in the untreated samples.