| dc.description.abstract | Lab-scale studies show that power ultrasound (US) accelerates meat curing and produces superior quality hams
through cavitation. This study aims to optimize pilot-scale production of US hams for quality and sensory analysis. Firstly, optimization trials were conducted whereby samples were cured in an US bath (900W) with 2 × US probes
inserted (each set at 40, 56 or 72 W cm-2) for 2, 4 or 6 h.At all US powers, a desired NaCl level (2.25 ± 0.05%)
was attained in 2 h while the control required 4 h. Secondly, samples were assessed for weight change, texture profile analysis, cook loss and expressible moisture. A 9 member trained sensory panel assessed hams in a quantitative descriptive test. Two treatments (US bath + 2 US probes at 40 or 56 W cm-2 each) caused greater
weight loss than the control (p<0.001), possibly due to protein losses. Treatment had no effect on the cook loss, expressible moisture or TPA (p>0.05). Sensory analysis revealed a tendency for cooked-ham flavor to increase with increasing power (p=0.061), however all other attributes were unaffected by treatment (p>0.05). This
demonstrates the potential of US at industrial level for reducing meat curing time without affecting quality. | en_US |
