An analytical solution to the model for conductive heat transfer in high-pressure processing of foods is developed. This solution can be used to extract thermal diffusivity, thermal expansivity and heat-transfer coefficient from an experimental cooling curve obtained during the hold at pressure of a high-pressure process cycle. The extracted heat transfer parameters can then be used to predict the temperature profiles in the process-vessel chamber. These profiles are the key to understanding (where appropriate) the contribution of thermal effects in high-pressure processing, for example in combined temperature-pressure processes. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.