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Abstract
A new technique for studying reaction kinetics was
used to confirm evidence for the absence of non-thermal microwave effects on the
thermal degradation of vitamin  . An additional
experiment was performed to determine whether exposure of the vitamin to
relatively high power microwaves (400W), at low temperature (<30°),
induced degradation which would not normally be expected in the absence of
microwave exposure. For the first
experiments, a special microwavable reactions vessel was used to determined
rates of vitamin degradation due to microwave exposure at controlled
steady-state temperatures of 100, 110, 120 and 130°C. Degradation rates from equivalent
conventional heating experiments were compared to those from microwave
heating. Both studies indicated that
the effect of microwave radiation on thiamine degradation was solely thermal
in nature. Rates of degradation were
found to be similar that the 95% confidence level. No difference was found between microwave
irradiated and unirradiated thiamine samples when
temperatures were maintained at low temperatures.
Key Words: Microwave, Athermal, Thiamin degradation, Kinetics
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