Changes in microstructure, quality and water distribution of porcine longissimus muscles subjected to ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing during frozen storage

Mingcheng Zhang; Xiufang Xia; Qian Liu; Qian Chen; Baohua Kong

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.01.002

Changes in microstructure, quality and water distribution of porcine longissimus muscles subjected to ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing during frozen storage

Meat Sci. 2019 May:151:24-32. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.01.002. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Authors

Mingcheng Zhang¹, Xiufang Xia², Qian Liu², Qian Chen², Baohua Kong³

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150030, China; College of Food Science and Technology, Bohai University, China; Food Safety Key Lab of Liaoning Province, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Jinzhou, Liaoning 121013, 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: kongbh63@hotmail.com.

PMID: 30682660
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.01.002

Abstract

The effect of ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing at 180 W (UIF-180) on the microstructure, quality and water distribution of porcine longissimus muscles during frozen storage was evaluated. The size of the ice crystals increased with extended storage time, and UIF-180 samples had a smaller size and uniform distribution of ice crystals. The thawing and cooking losses in the UIF-180 sample were significantly lower than that in air freezing (AF) and immersion freezing (IF) samples (P < 0.05). AF samples had a higher cutting force at 0 days. During the 60-180 days of the storage period, the cutting force of UIF-180 samples was significantly higher than that of AF and IF samples (P < 0.05). Low field-nuclear magnetic resonance results showed that UIF-180 decreased water migration during frozen storage. UIF-180 samples had significantly lower lipid oxidation and higher redness than that of the AF and IF samples (P > 0.05). Overall, UIF at particular powers is an efficient method in reducing quality deterioration of muscles during long-term frozen storage.

Keywords: Microstructure; Porcine longissimus muscle; Quality characteristic; Ultrasound-assisted immersion freezing; Water distribution.

MeSH terms

Animals
Color
Food Preservation / methods
Freezing*
Lipid Metabolism
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / veterinary
Muscle, Skeletal / chemistry
Muscle, Skeletal / ultrastructure
Oxidation-Reduction
Red Meat / analysis*
Shear Strength
Swine
Ultrasonic Waves*
Water / chemistry

Substances

Water