Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of thermal processing combined with high pressure on the properties of cooked pork. Pressurization followed by heating (PFH), heating followed by pressurization (HFP) and heating under pressurization (HUP) treatments were compared to a heated only control. Cooked meat without simultaneous pressurization showed little or no decrease in water binding properties relative to the control, regardless of the sequence of pressurization and heating. However, HUP treated pork had significantly higher water binding properties than the control (p<0.05). The pH values of all treatments were not significantly different with the exception of HUP at 300 MPa. The HUP treated pork showed the best tenderizing effects among all the treatments tested and the effect was more significant at increased pressure levels (p<0.05). In addition, increasing pressure levels significantly increased the L-values of pork (p<0.05). PFH and HFP treated pork had significantly lower a-values (p<0.05), while no significant differences were observed in HUP. HUP treated pork had the lowest b-values at 100 MPa, however, the differences were not significant at increasing pressure levels. These results indicate that heating under pressure is the best cooking condition for improving the quality characteristics of pork without adversely affecting its appearance.
