Department of Ultrasonic and Sensors Technologies, Physical and Information Technologies Institute (ITEFI), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Serrano, 144, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
Department of Food Technology, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera, s/n, E46022, Valencia, Spain.
Meat Sci. 2023 Oct;204:109275. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2023.109275. Epub 2023 Jul 4.
In conventional ultrasonic techniques, the necessary contact between the sensor and the product has constrained the implementation of ultrasound for quality control purposes in the meat industry. The use of novel air-coupled ultrasonic technologies provides multiple advantages linked to contactless inspection. Therefore, this study aims to compare the feasibility of contact (C; 1 MHz) and non-contact (NC; 0.3 MHz) ultrasonic techniques for monitoring the physicochemical modifications undergone by beef steaks during dry salting after different times (0, 1, 4, 8 and 24 hours). Experimental results showed that the ultrasonic velocity increased during salting, which was linked to the reduction in Time-of-Flight ratio (R) and sample shrinkage (velocity C: R = 0.99; velocity NC: R = 0.93 and R C: R = 0.98; R NC: R = 0.95). In terms of the compositional changes provoked by salting, the velocity variation (△V) increased linearly (C: R = 0.97; NC: R = 0.95) with the salt content. As for textural parameters, hardness (C: R = 0.99; NC: R = 0.97) and relaxation capacity (C: R = 0.96; NC: R = 0.94) were well correlated with the △V through power equations. Experimental results reflected that the performance of the non-contact ultrasonic technique was similar to that of the contact technique as regards the monitoring of the physicochemical changes undergone by beef steaks during dry salting.
在传统的超声技术中，传感器与产品之间的必要接触限制了超声技术在肉类工业质量控制中的应用。新型空气耦合超声技术的使用提供了与非接触检测相关的多种优势。因此，本研究旨在比较接触式（C；1MHz）和非接触式（NC；0.3MHz）超声技术在监测牛肉干盐腌制过程中理化性质变化的可行性，盐腌时间分别为 0、1、4、8 和 24 小时。实验结果表明，超声速度在腌制过程中增加，这与飞行时间比（R）和样品收缩率（速度 C：R=0.99；速度 NC：R=0.93 和 R C：R=0.98；R NC：R=0.95）的降低有关。就盐腌制引起的成分变化而言，速度变化（△V）与盐含量呈线性增加（C：R=0.97；NC：R=0.95）。就质地参数而言，硬度（C：R=0.99；NC：R=0.97）和松弛能力（C：R=0.96；NC：R=0.94）通过幂方程与△V 密切相关。实验结果反映出，非接触式超声技术在监测牛肉干干盐腌制过程中理化变化方面的性能与接触式技术相似。
