When PEF changes the product, the frying process needs to change too
12. August 2026 - PEF is often associated with what happens before the frying process: improved cutting, modified product structure and more efficient processing. But what happens after PEF treatment can be just as interesting. ELEA Technology GmbH has now been granted Canadian patent CA 3,166,656 for a process relating to the frying of PEF-permeabilized food products. The patent complements the corresponding European patent granted in 2024.
Looking beyond the PEF treatment
PEF changes the structure of food products by permeabilising cell membranes. Those structural changes can have an impact beyond the immediate PEF application. Our work showed that PEF-permeabilized products behave differently during frying. That means the frying process itself needs to take these changes into account.This is the thinking behind the patented approach.
Adapting frying to PEF-treated products
The concept combines PEF-treated food products with controlled multi-zone frying and tailored temperature profiles. Rather than treating PEF and frying as two independent process steps, the approach considers how the first influences the second.
This can support:
more consistent product quality
better control of colour and texture
reduced oil uptake
lower formation of undesirable compounds
improved process efficiency and throughput potential
The important point is not simply that PEF changes the food product. It is that this change creates a different starting point for the processes that follow.
Optimising the whole process chain
The patent is a good example of how PEF development can move beyond the treatment unit itself. Innovation in food processing is rarely about a single machine. The real opportunity often lies in understanding the interactions between individual process steps and optimising them together. For PEF, that means asking not only what the electric field does to the product, but also what those changes mean for everything that comes next. And that is where PEF becomes particularly interesting.