Czech J. Food Sci., 2013, 31(5):413-418 | DOI: 10.17221/350/2012-CJFS

Effect of freezing rate and comminution on dielectric properties of porkOriginal Paper

James G. LYNG¹, Lu ZHANG², Francesco MARRA³, Nigel P. BRUNTON⁴

¹ School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin, Belfield, Ireland

² Fonterra Research Centre, Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, Palmerston North, New Zealand

³ Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

⁴ Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, Ireland

The impact of comminution and the freezing rate on the dielectric properties (ε' and ε'') of meats measured at frequencies used for cooking, i.e. radio frequency, RF (27.12 MHz), and microwave, MW (915 and 2450 MHz), were evaluated. The temperature rises (ΔT) were also measured following standardised RF or MW cooking protocols (90 s at 450 W). A factorially designed experiment was conducted and the results suggested that ε' and ε'' were generally, though not always, significantly lower in more highly comminuted samples. At MW frequencies in meats with added ingredients, the frozen products generally had lower ε' and higher ε'' values, while slowly frozen meats with no added ingredients had higher ε' values at MW frequencies. Overall, the impact of comminution and freezing rate on ΔT was relatively minor.

Keywords: radio-frequency heating; microwave heating; meat properties; meat batter

Published: October 31, 2013  Show citation