Post-mortem ultrasound and freezing of rabbit meat: Effects on the physicochemical quality and weight loss
Luis M. Carrillo-López, Danely Robledo, Viridiana Martínez, Mariana Huerta‐Jimenez, Mieke Titulaer, Alma D. Alarcón-Rojo, América Chávez‐Martínez, Lorena Luna-Rodríguez, Luis Raúl García-Flores
Abstract
, 20 and 40 min) and post-mortem development on the yield and physicochemical quality of rabbit meat in samples treated with HIU pre- and post-storage in a freezer (120 h at -20 °C). Twenty rabbit carcasses were vacuum packed 12 h post-mortem, placed in a fridge at 4 °C for 24 h, and divided in two groups (HIU application before or after freezing), before assigning the treatments. The results show that HIU before freezing produced intense and bright orange-yellow colours, whereas its application after freezing resulted in pale red tones. HIU application accelerates rigor mortis resolution when it is applied before freezing and causes a significant decrease in pH immediately following the HIU treatment. Post-freezing application of HIU is not recommended because it considerably increased weight loss and toughening of the meat when long exposure times were used (40 min). In contrast, a short treatment duration with HIU mitigated the effects of freezing and produced significant increases in water-holding capacity (WHC) after cold storage. The yield (weight loss) of the rabbit meat was not affected when HIU was applied pre-freezing. The application of HIU pre-freezing constitutes a promising technology because it increased the tenderness and the WHC of rabbit meat. However, more research is needed to improve the appearance before scaling up to industrial levels.