Monitoring of water distribution in meat upon freezing with X-ray computed tomography

Abstract

The freezing speed influences the growth and spatial distribution of ice inf frozen meat. The formation of ice crystals dehydrates the fibres and can damage the cell structure. This influences the drip loss after thawing and reduces tenderness, which is an important eating characteristic of red meat. A better understanding of ice formation and an efficient method for analysing ice distribution can lead to improved freezing processes in food production. This work demonstrates X-ray computed tomography as a novel method suitable for determining and visualising the ice volume fraction in frozen meat, which is important because ice formation has consequences for meat quality (drip loss on thawing, loss of juiciness and tenderness after cooking). The results obtained are in agreement with the phenomenological predictions of the literature and extend the known microscopy methods with a non-destructive and time efficient analysis technique that provides information about the amount of ice formed and its spatial distribution in frozen meat.