The acceleration of pork curing by power ultrasound: A pilot-scale production

Abstract Power ultrasound (US) has been proven to accelerate mass transfer in meat demonstrating a potential to reduce processing times. However, there is a lack of pilot-scale studies which assess the potential scale up of the technology and also possible detrimental effects on meat quality. The aim of this study was to optimise pilot-scale US pork curing to reduce processing time by assessing various US intensities (0, 10.7, 17.1 and 25.4 W cm − 2 ) and treatment times (2, 4 or 6 h). Three US treatments (2 h; 10.7, 17.1 or 25.4 W cm − 2 ) which resulted in equal NaCl content (2.25%) as the control (4 h; 0 W cm − 2 ) were assessed for changes in quality (colour, texture, cook loss, expressible moisture), sensory attributes, oxidative stability and microbial status. Hue angle, a* values (redness) and lipid oxidation increased over storage (p  Industrial relevance Curing of meat is generally characterised as a slow process. Processing times have been reduced through injection and tumbling but these processes may reduce product quality if used excessively. US has been shown to accelerate mass transfer of brine into meat during lab-scale trials but no studies have assessed the feasibility of an US probe system on ham curing at pilot-scale. This study achieved up to a 50% reduction in processing times with no adverse effects on quality in the production of premium wet-cured cooked hams. Therefore, potential could exist for the use of US in the processing of other cured meat products within the meat curing industry.