This paper describes the advantage of intense pulsed electric fields (iPEF) for liquid sterilization. Carboxymetyl cellulose solution including Enterobactor aerogenes was exposed to 600 ns of PEF (40〜50 kV/cm) and thermal that hardly affect to ingredients of food (＜55℃). At first, the dependence of sterilization effect on electric fields was evaluated. Using 50 kV/cm (iPEF) for liquid sterilization has an advantage compared with lower electric fields (40, 45 kV/cm). Secondly, the dependence of sterilization strength on pre· and post-treatment thermal temperature was evaluated. 6.6 Log_(10) of bacterial inactivation was achieved by iPEF combined with thermal treatment while only thermal or iPEF treatment sterilized 0.12, 2.2 Log_(10) of bacterial inactivation respectively. Post-treatment thermal can penetrate into bacteria through the membrane destruction induced by PEF and inhibit a self-repairing of bacterial membrane.
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