Influence of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing on the freezing rate and quality of porcine longissimus muscles

Mingcheng Zhang; Niu Haili; Qian Chen; Xiufang Xia; Baohua Kong

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.10.005

Influence of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing on the freezing rate and quality of porcine longissimus muscles

Meat Sci. 2018 Feb:136:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.10.005. Epub 2017 Oct 12.

Authors

Mingcheng Zhang¹, Niu Haili², Qian Chen², Xiufang Xia³, Baohua Kong⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150030, China; College of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Suihua University, Suihua, Heilongjiang 152061, China.
² College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150030, China.
³ College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150030, China. Electronic address: xxfang524@163.com.
⁴ College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150030, China. Electronic address: kongbh@neau.edu.cn.

PMID: 29055228
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2017.10.005

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing (UIF) on the freezing rate and quality of porcine longissimus muscles under different ultrasound powers. UIF with a certain level of ultrasound power significantly (P>0.05) accelerated the freezing rate. The phase transition times of samples treated with UIF at 180W (UIF-180) were the shortest. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in a* (redness), b* (yellowness), pH values or cooking loss among UIF, IF, and control (fresh muscle) samples. Investigation of the microstructure of frozen muscles demonstrated that UIF-180 remarkably reduced the size of ice crystals and made their distribution more uniform. UIF-180 samples showed a significant (P<0.05) reduction in thawing loss and T₂₁ and T₂₂ relaxation times compared with other treatments, which meant that UIF at certain powers could reduce the mobility and loss of immobilized and free water. The results showed that UIF at certain powers significantly increased the freezing rate of muscle samples and improved meat quality.

Keywords: Freezing rate; Porcine longissimus muscle; Quality; Ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing.

MeSH terms

Animals
Color
Cooking
Food Preservation / methods*
Freezing*
Paraspinal Muscles / chemistry
Red Meat / analysis
Red Meat / standards*
Swine
Time Factors
Ultrasonic Waves*
Water / chemistry

Substances

Water