• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.168-180
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• 2017

This study was performed to determine the rapid thawing method for reducing the thawing time of frozen pork loins and to examine the effects of supercooling on the microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory qualities of fresh and frozen-thawed pork during storage at -1.5, 4, and $15^{\circ}C$. Forced-air thawing at $4^{\circ}C$ was the most time-consuming process, whereas radio frequency thawing time was the shortest by dielectric heating. The supercooling storage temperature was chosen to be $-1.5^{\circ}C$ because microstructural damages were not observed in the pork sample after cooling at $-1.5^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. Fresh or frozen-thawed pork loins stored at $-1.5^{\circ}C$ had lower drip loss and total volatile base nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance, and Hunter b* levels than loins stored at 4 and $15^{\circ}C$. In addition, the least degree of increase in preexisting microorganisms counts of the fresh or frozen-thawed pork loin samples was obtained during supercooled storage at $-1.5^{\circ}C$. Sensory quality results of fresh and frozen-thawed pork loin samples stored at $-1.5^{\circ}C$ showed higher scores than the samples stored at 4 and $15^{\circ}C$. These data indicate that supercooling at $-1.5^{\circ}C$ in the meat processing industry would be effective for maintaining the quality of pork meats without ice crystal nucleation and formation.