Measurement of the thermal conductivity of foods at high pressure

The line heat source probe method, widely used for determining thermal cond uctivity of food materials, was applied in a pilot scale high-pressure unit and the possibility of extending this technique to pressures up to 400 MPa was investigated. Commercially canned tomato paste and apple pulp were use d as test products, Probes were calibrated to 1.5% agar gel. A probe specif ic pressure- and temperature-dependant calibration factor was applied. The accuracy at high-pressure was similar to published values. Given the simpli city of the method, this approach seems very promising for determining ther mal conductivity of foods over a range of pressures and temperatures.