Development of probe for thermal conductivity measurement of food materials under heated and pressurized conditions

The probe measuring the thermal conductivity of food materials under pressu rized conditions over a wide temperature range was developed. The measureme nt was based on the transient hot wire method. The validity of the data mea sured using this probe was verified by comparison with published data of wa ter. The thermal conductivity of gelatinized potato starches was determined at 25-80 degrees C, 50-80% moisture, and 0.2-10 MPa. It was found that the thermal conductivity of the starch gel increases with temperature and mois ture content, and that it increases with pressure up to 1 MPa, above which it remains almost constant. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.