Effects of conventional freezing processing and frozen storage on pork water-holding capacity and structure

Effects of conventional freezing processing and frozen storage at -18℃ on water-holding capacity, protein solubility and structure of pork were investigated. Thaw loss rate, cooking loss rate, pressing loss rate, protein solubility, pH value and structure of the pork were measured. The results showed that water-holding capacity of the frozen pork gradually decreased with the elongation of frozen storage period, which mainly expressed in the increasing of thaw loss rate, cooking loss rate and pressing loss rate. During storage, protein solubility (including total protein solubility and myofibrillar protein solubility) of the pork decreased gradually, and the size of crystals in the samples also grew up slowly, which resulted in the aggregation of muscle bundle. Those might be the reasons for the decreasing in water-holding capacity of the frozen pork. After one month storage, the pork characteristics considered changed a little, but the indexes changed significantly after two months, and changed much significantly after five months.