No abstract

Evaporation of water was enhanced by ordinary frequency (60 Hz) high electric fields (HEF), and the effect was directly proportional to the extent of treatment, i.e., increased with time and electric field, and decreased with separating head distance. Alternating current (AC) wire electric field was more effective in promoting evaporation of water than all direct currents (DC) and AC (plate) electric fields. As a result of the higher rate of evaporation, AC (wire) HEF caused a reduction of 1.0'C in the surface temperature in water and 4.5'C in ethanol. Both evaporation rate and surface temperature were resumed after the electric fields were discontinued. Furthermore, the evaporation rates of water and ethanol were equal to the respective controls after 60 min and 100 min of electric field cutoff, respectively. Similarly, HEF was very effective in promoting evaporation even at higher concentration of sugar or salt solutions. Cut discs ( size: c20 mmX 10 mm, ca. 174 g, placed 10 mm apart on aluminum-foil) of apple flesh were dried under AC (wire) HEF under ambient conditions (25'C, 35% RH), and the higher the fields, the faster was the drying. After 10.0 h drying, the moisture contents of samples treated with 0.0, 5.7, 7.9 and 10.0 kV alternating electric fields (20 mm head distance) were 4.2, 3.6, 3.4 and 3.1 kg/kg dry solid, respectively.

Kagoshima 890, JapanAn effort was made to elongate the shelf life of strawberries by the application of an alternating current (60 Hz) high electric field (HEF). An internal voltage as high as 174 V was measured in a strawberry by applying a 430 kV/m external electric field. Short treatment periods (0.5-1.5 h) with the HEF (430 kV/m) was found to reduce rotting (%) of the strawberries, but continuous HEF treatment was more effective to control rotting. Because continuous HEF treatment without packaging caused excessive weight loss, the strawberries were packed in polyethylene trays (OPS, P-11) and covered without sealing. The HEF was then continuously applied to the strawberries. Strawberries treated by continuous HEF for 6 days at 20'C and by electric fields of O, 114, 172, 285 and 430 kV/m resulted in 80, 60, 50, 30 and O% rotted samples, respectively. No differences were observed in surface color, pH, acidity and sugar contents between treated and non-treated samples.

The on-farm performance of more than 150 000 pre-basic potato (Solanum tuberosum) minitubers of 1±10 g was monitored over two years in contrasting environments in Nepal. Average minituber productivity (grams of basic seed produced per minituber planted) was 171 g in the southern plains and 116 g in the hills. Although the performance of minitubers varied between environments, minituber sizes and potato varieties, the overall results clearly indicated that minitubers can be successfully multiplied by small-scale farmers. This technology therefore allows for the highly decentralized production of basic seed which, in turn, will reduce farmers' dependence on an unreliable and costly supply of bulky conventional seed.

Sisnu (nettle buds) of variety Urtica plaviflora, an under explored herb of Himalayan region, was preserved by fermentation followed by drying process and quality was evaluated. Chemical analyses of fresh Sisnu was found to be 84.4% moisture, 3.64g crude protein, 4.15g ash, 1.66g fiber, 0.52g fat, 64.10mg potassium, 23.65mg calcium, 17.17mg Sodium and 32.12mg