Recent Advances in the Application of Ultrasonic Technology in the Curing of Meat Products

Curing is a processing technology that marinates with food additives such as salt, nitrite and phosphate. It is one of the important steps in the meat products processing and is widely used in cured meat products. Curing can not only improve the texture and flavor of meat products, but also plays a critical role in preservation. However, the drawbacks of traditional curing technology are emerged such as long curing time, uneven salt penetration, and unstable quality of meat product. Ultrasonic technology is an innovative and non-thermal processing technology, which is widely investigated in various fields of food processing. In the respect of meat curing, ultrasonic-assisted curing technology has been extensively studied because of its advantages of increasing curing rate, reducing the loss of nutrients, and improving the tenderness of cured meat products. Therefore, this article summarizes the basic principles of the application of ultrasonic technology in the curing of meat products, including cavitation, mechanical and thermal effects. The impact of ultrasonic-assisted curing on the water retention, tenderness, curing agents permeability, flavor of meat products are also summarized, looking forward to the application prospect of ultrasonic-assisted curing technology in the field of cured meat processing, and laying the foundation for the application of ultrasonic technology in the industrial production of meat products.