ABSTRACT: The combination of pulsed vacuum osmotic dehydration and microwave drying of garlic bulbs were examined. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the effect of NaCl concentration (8%-20%), osmotic solution temperature (25-65°C), operation pressure (240-830 mbar), immersion time (20-300 min) and microwave power level (100-600 W) on water loss (WL), solids gain (SG),...

As the range of techniques for microwave heating has expanded, so have the areas in which it can have a profound impact. Two emerging areas are the application of microwave heating for the synthesis of peptides, peptoids, oligopeptides and carbohydrates and in the field of proteomics.

A direct synthesis of substituted xanthenes from salicylaldehydes and cyclohexenones or tetralones has been developed. The reaction is catalysed by Lewis acids like scandium triflate and furnishes substituted xanthenes in good to excellent yields using either microwave or thermal heating. Microwave heating results in significantly shortened reaction times of 30 min and generally higher yields.

In recent years, various types of medical applications of microwaves have widely been investigated and reported [1]. In particular, minimally invasive microwave thermal therapies using thin coaxial antennas are of a great interest. They are interstitial microwave hyperthermia [2] and microwave coagulation therapy (MCT) [3] for medical treatment of cancer, cardiac catheter ablation for ventricul...

The application of Microwave-Accelerated Surface Plasmon-Coupled Luminescence (MA-SPCL) to fast and sensitive DNA hybridization assays in buffer and whole blood is presented. In this regard, a model DNA hybridization assay whereby a fluorophore-labeled target ssDNA specific to human immunodeficiency, Hepatitis C (Hep C), is probed by an anchor probe immobilized on thin gold films, is driven to ...

The method of processing biomass of various kinds by microwave-assisted pyrolysis has been presented. The fast pyrolysis process, characterized by rapid heating of the feedstock in the absence of oxygen and rapid cooling of the volatile intermediate reaction products, is one of attractive liquid biofuel production methods. However, the pyrolysis still requires improvements as regards the proces...

Microporous materials, such as silicalite-1 and VSB-5 molecular sieves, have been synthesized by both microwave irradiation (MW) and conventional electric heating (CE). The accelerated syntheses by microwave irradiation can be quantitatively investigated by various heating modes conducted in two steps such as MW-MW, MW-CE, CE-MW, and CE-CE (in the order of nucleation-crystal growth). In the cas...

Engineering students in a one-semester organic chemistry laboratory course prepared biodiesel by using either microwave or conventional heating in a discovery-based experiment. The laboratory design was to show improvement in student awareness about the use of microwave heating in organic synthesis in general, and specifically in the preparation of biodiesel. The students were polled before and...

Microwave irradiation has been successfully applied in organic chemistry. Spectacular accelerations, higher yields under milder reaction conditions and higher product purities have all been reported. Indeed, a number of authors have described success in reactions that do not occur by conventional heating and even modifications of selectivity (chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity). The effect of...

Microwaves have been widely used in the treatment of materials, such as heating, drying, and sterilization. However, the heating in the commonly used microwave applicators is usually uneven. In this paper, a novel multi-material turntable structure is creatively proposed to improve the temperature uniformity in microwave ovens. Three customized turntables consisting of polyethylene (PE) and alu...