Summary:
Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed revolutionary methods for applicable one-step skin removal to a variety of fruits and vegetables. Our methods employ ohmic fields to clearly lyse and separate the skin from the flesh. Unlike other methods that degrade a percentage of the flesh along with the skin and/or require post processing effluent treatment, the OSU methods require significantly less acid for processing, which can be recycled back into the process. Bench-scale prototype has produced successful small scale results.
Potential Applications:
Commercial use for companies in produce processing industry
Advantages:
- Factor of 10 reduction in lye use
- Maintains integrity of produce peeled
- Peel recovered for use in other products
- Reduction in operator hazards and caustic biowaste
- Requires minimum factory retooling and up-front capital