Effects of Static Magnetic Field-assisted Supercooling Preservation on Quality and Water-holding Capacity of Pork during Storage

Supercooling can preserve pork without freezing damage. However, maintaining a supercooled state was difficult. An innovative static magnetic field extended supercooling (SMF-ES) method was proposed to maintain the non-frozen state of pork. Effects of SMF-ES (−3.5 ℃+SMF) compared with refrigerated (4 ℃), slight-frozen (−3.5 ℃) and frozen (−18 ℃) treatments on pork quality and water-holding capacity were investigated. Results showed that an 8 mT static magnetic field successfully preserved pork at −3.5 ℃ without ice nucleation for 12 d, which prevented freezing damage to pork. Compared with the refrigerated, slow-frozen, and frozen treatments, the drip loss of SMF-ES decreased by 21.10%, 59.81% and 30.64%, respectively. The color, tenderness, centrifugation loss, myofibrillar protein solubility, and surface hydrophobicity of pork in the SMF-ES group were better than those in the refrigerated, slow-frozen, and frozen treatments. In addition, the SMF-ES group was superior to the refrigerated and slow-frozen groups in terms of pH, lipid oxidation degree, and aerobic plate count. In conclusion, the overall acceptability of pork after SMF-ES treatment was the best, indicating that SMF-ES treatment could effectively maintain the quality and water-holding capacity of chilled pork.