A novel infrared and microwave alternate thawing method for frozen pork: Effect on thawing rate and products quality

Hu R 1 , Zhang M 2 , Jiang Q 3 , Law CL 4

Affiliations 

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China; China General Chamber of Commerce Key Laboratory on Fresh Food Processing & Preservation, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Province International Joint Laboratory on Fresh Food Smart Processing and Quality Monitoring, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: min@jiangnan.edu.cn
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China; Jiangsu Province International Joint Laboratory on Fresh Food Smart Processing and Quality Monitoring, Jiangnan University, 214122 Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
  • 4 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
Meat Sci, 2023 Apr;198:109084.
PMID: 36599205 DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2022.109084

Abstract

The effect of infrared and microwave alternate thawing (IR + MWT) on frozen pork were compared to fresh, air thawing (AT), infrared thawing (IRT), microwave thawing (MWT). The IR + MWT took only about 11.81 min of the thawing time compared to AT 66.5 min, and the Raman spectroscopy and Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) results showed that the IR + MWT maintained better protein secondary structure composition and moisture state compared to MWT and IRT. In terms of thawing losses, IR + MWT had the lowest loss 1.92%. In terms of texture, IR + MWT had the least effect on the post-thawing textural properties and increased the springiness of the meat. Scanning electron microscopy results also showed that there was reduced damage to the muscle structure with IR + MWT. Regarding the odor of the meat after thawing, IR + MWT retained the odor better and was closer to the fresh sample. Therefore, IR + MWT can be used to enhance the thawing rate to protect the quality of the thawed pork.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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