The sustainable breakthrough in food preparation

With the Nutri-Pulse® e-Cooker® stew can be prepared in a few  minutes, with better retention of the original nutrients and an exquisite taste. e-Cooking® technology is also ideal for preparing other  types of meat as well as fish, vegetables and potatoes.

IXL Netherlands B.V. developed this technology which uses Pulsed  Electric Field (PEF) to cook food. Stew does not need to simmer for  hours, but is instead ready after only a few minutes within the  e-Cooker. The origin of the technique lies in research for mild  preservation techniques for fruit juices and other liquids, whereby  ’cold pasteurisation’ with pulsed electric fields is used to better  preserve the flavour, smell, colour and taste of the juice in comparison  with traditional heating processes. Govert van Oord, Owner-Manager of  IXL Netherlands B.V., wondered whether this technique could also be  applied to the preparation of solid foods (uniform heating and  controlled) and his idea proved to be a big success.

OMVE Netherlands B.V.

IXL Netherlands B.V. is business partner of OMVE Netherlands B.V. OMVE  is a leading company specialised in high-quality, small-scale liquid  process equipment for laboratory and pilot applications. The advanced  processing equipment simulates both existing and new industrial  processes at the highest level and a large number of trials can be  carried out in less time with lower costs for labour, ingredients and  operations. Test results can be reproduced quickly and accurately and be  scaled to production size. IXL is working on several radical  innovations, of which the Nutri-Pulse e-Cooker is the first major  project. Both companies are working closely together with the Food and  Biobased Research department at Wageningen UR.

‘Advantages are low energy usage, nutrient preservation, improved quality, and significant time and space savings’

Controlled process

With existing cooking methods, food is heated for long times at 100 to  200 degrees Celsius. This is necessary to make the cell walls and cell  contents of meat, fish and vegetables chewable, edible and digestible.  The disadvantage of this method is that during sustained heating this  can cause the loss of some valuable nutrients. The Nutri-Pulse e-Cooker  ensures a homogeneous preparation process; this means that no heat is  brought from the outside to the inside of the food, but instead the  necessary heat is created in the food itself. Electrical pulses pass  through the food and cause electroporation of the cells. In combination  with pulsed ohmic heating, the food is cooked evenly on the inside and  the outside, and prepared very quickly at a relatively low temperature  and with low energy usage.
 The pulse duration, number of pulses and pulse strength can be adjusted  very accurately so that the loss of nutrients is kept to a minimum. The  cooking process can be monitored completely electronically and it is  possible to identify the exact stage in the preparation process when  starches and/or proteins are transformed. This makes it totally  manageable. Because one can measure when the starches are gelatinised,  potatoes no longer have to be boiled at 100 degrees Celsius for 20  minutes for instance.

Advantages

The e-Cooking process is sustainable and offers many advantages. The  Nutri-Pulse e-Cooker has a very low energy use and treats the raw  materials very gently. In addition, it increases the quality of the food  by preserving more nutrients, more initial moisture of the product,  more smell, colour, structure and taste. The food enables fresh produce  to be prepared in a very short time (just a few minutes) and opens up  opportunities for the development of new dishes. The preparation process  with the Nutri-Pulse e-Cooker is safe (no hot surface) and, because of  homogeneous heating, the food is also microbiologically safe to make.

Applications

Hans Roelofs, Innovation Director at IXL Netherlands B.V., reports that  the feasibility study on the use of PEF technology for cooking painted a  very positive picture. IXL has received good comments from the culinary  world including from Jonnie Boer from restaurant Librije in Zwolle  (NL). With the e-Cooker, IXL has won the 'Cooks Innovation Trophy' in  2011. Together with Top Sport Restaurant and InnoSportLab® Papendal  (NL), which has expertise in the field of nutrition and sport, IXL is  working on the project “e-Cooking-Voeding-Sport”.
This project examines the possible impact e-Cooking® can have on the  sporting performance of individual athletes. Practical tests are soon to  be carried out in the Top Sport Restaurant’s open kitchen.
Caterers, hospitals and companies in the food industry have already  shown an interest in this new technology which, in addition to its  benefits such as low energy usage, nutrient preservation, improved  quality and time savings, can also deliver significant space savings.

Here and now

IXL Netherlands B.V. develops surprising technological concepts from  idea to the market. The company's guiding principle is ‘People, Planet,  Prosperity’, and it chooses to focus on technologies that add real value  to society.
Meanwhile IXL has applied for and received several patents for  e-Cooking. Van Oord sees a great future for the technology: "The principle of e-Cooking is in line with all the focal points of the  agrifood sector such as sustainable food and energy. Consider the growing world population and the impending food shortage. It is  important that whatever people eat contains as many nutrients as  possible.” Roelofs adds: “e-Cooking can also provide a solution to  malnutrition for patients in hospitals and care homes. They will get  tastier food, which can be offered at any time thanks to the quick  cooking time. Also looking across borders at developing regions, where  there is often food available but not enough power to prepare it  properly. The Nutri-Pulse e-Cooker uses so little energy that, in the  near future, it should become possible to power it with a truck  battery.”

 www.innovation-xl.com