DETERMINATION OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DURING SLOW FREEZING IN PORK CUTS (LONGISSIMUS DORSI)

Meat freezing has been traditionally studied according to the effect of the storage, transport and/or the display to the consumer. This study focused on the statistical analysis of the structural damage in cuts of pork loin (Longissimus dorsi), during slow rate freezing process with fluctuations of temperature and controlled relative humidity. Structural damage was seen as the area of the cavity caused by the ice crystal's formation, assessed by histological analysis. The associated behavior with experimental errors was adjusted under a statistical protocol, to establish the dependence of the damage growth depending on the time and temperature during the process, with an improvement in the polynomial behavior of 86 to 97%. Structural damage was presented at the end of the process a maximal area of 150.04 µm2 and temperature of -9.9 ° C. The representative rate of ice crystal growth in meat had a high value at the beginning of freezing with 41.08 µm2/°C at -3.25°C and an average value of 11.1 ± 5.5 µm2/°C until to the end of process. Final area is consistent with the results presented by other authors