Sodium diffusion in cured pork determined by 22Na radiology

Abstract

A 22Na-radioisotope method was developed as a non-destructive method for studying NaCl diffusion in meat. Scanning a well-defined cylindrical geometry with diffusion from one end gave reliable sodium diffusion profiles in meat. The diffusion coefficients derived from the profiles amounted to 5–7 × 10 −10 m 2/s at 21 °C, largely in accordance with the general findings of the literature. Subsequent autoradiography carried out on the same samples demonstrated the feasibility of this method for validation of different experimental set-ups. The diffusion profiles were skewed showing a wall effect which, however, did not prevent consistent determination of the diffusion coefficient. The results suggest that the diffusion of salt in meat may depend on the individual animal. The present study appears to be the first to employ radioactive 22Na as a tracer for NaCl diffusion in meat; it is concluded that the method is promising for studying salt diffusion in meat.