Effect of pre-chilling temperature on chilled pork quality

The objective of this study was to investigate how pre-chilling temperature(-14 ℃, -18 ℃, -22 ℃, -26 ℃, -30 ℃) affected chilled pork quality. The results showed that pre-chilling temperature greatly influenced chilled pork quality. When the pre-chilling temperature was -22 ℃, it greatly improved water holding capacity(WHC), color and texture. Instrumental texture indicated that the value of hardness, gumminess and chewiness was decreased but there was no significant influence in springiness and adhesiveness. The carcass pH and temperature in postmortem 45 min have predictive value on final WHC, pH45 min have negative correlation with drip loss, T45 min have positive correlation with drip loss of chilled pork.