RESEARCH INTO THE THERMOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSCLE AND ADIPOSE TISSUES IN THE FREEZING–THAWING PROCESS

Abstract

The paper presents a study of the thermophysical characteristics of meat systems based on minced beef and pork with different morphological composition in the freezing–thawing process, and those of model systems based on minced beef with addition of adipose tissue (raw fat). The method used to detect and compare the thermodynamic changes consisted in determining the effective specific heat capacity by freeze-thaw thermograms and was based on a set of informational parameters related to it (cryoscopic temperature, cryoscopic interval of temperatures, specific heat of phase transition in the cryoscopic temperature interval, change of enthalpy in the interval of temperatures of the sample tested, proportion of moisture that changes its physical state in the cryoscopic temperature interval). It has been shown that the morphological structure of meat (the ratio of muscle, connective, and adipose tissues) significantly affects the thermophysical parameters of meat systems during freezing and defrosting. It has been found that under the conditions of a freeze–thaw cycle, an increase in the content of connective tissue leads to a higher proportion of moisture that changes its physical state in the cryoscopic temperature interval, while an increase in the adipose tissue content in a meat system reduces the moisture that changes its physical state in the cryoscopic temperature interval. When adipose tissue was introduced into meat systems, the freezing process resulted in a higher rate of formation of ice crystals and a lower rate of moisture migration from cells to the intercellular space, and crystal formation became a controlled process. When manufacturing semi-finished frozen meat products, regulating the ratio of muscle and adipose tissues makes it possible to influence the stability of the properties of meat systems in the technological cycle “freezing – storage – thawing” and to create products with the required functional, technological, and thermophysical parameters. This research can be a basis for developing the recipe compositions and technological parameters of manufacturing semi-finished frozen meat products and finished products based on them