JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, vol.71, no.5, 2006 (SCI-Expanded)
The thermal conductivity of 4 fruit (pear, sweet-cherry, apricot, and cherry-plum) juices was measured with a coaxial-cylinder (steady-state) technique. Measurements were made, temperature range 20 to 120 degrees C, at concentrations between 12.2 and 50 degrees Brix. The uncertainty of the thermal conductivity measurements was estimated to be less than 2%. A semitheoretical method for the prediction of thermal conductivity of juices was proposed. It was found that the prediction Model IV, lambda(T, x)/lambda(T-0, x) = (T/T-0)(n), where lambda is the thermal conductivity, x is the concentration, and T is the temperature, developed in this work can be adopted with satisfaction. The thermal conductivity of juices can be predicted just by knowing the thermal conductivity lambda(0) at a reference temperature T-0.