EC Nutrition

Heat and mass transfer underpin food preservation, thermal processing, drying, cooling, and quality retention. In food matrices, conduction, convection, and radiation interact with moisture migration, vapor diffusion, solute movement, and phase change. These coupled processes influence temperature distribution, microbial inactivation, texture, nutrient retention, and energy use. This editorial summarizes the principal heat-transfer mechanisms, transient heating in packaged foods, and the interactions between thermal and mass transport. It also highlights the use of computational fluid dynamics and multiphysics modeling to examine spatial gradients, locate slow-heating regions, and support process design. Emerging technologies, including ohmic and other electric-field processing, may offer faster volumetric heating in suitable foods, although field uniformity, equipment design, and process validation remain important challenges. Integrating sound transport models with experimental validation can help develop food processes that are safe, energy-conscious, and capable of preserving product quality.

 Keywords: Heat Transfer; Mass Transfer; Food Processing; Thermal Diffusivity; Computational Fluid Dynamics; Ohmic Heating

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