Effect of magnetic field mediated CaCl2 on the edible quality of low-sodium minced pork gels

Abstract

Magnetic field combined with calcium chloride (CaCl₂,) treatment is a highly promising technique for reducing sodium chloride (NaCl) in meat. Therefore, this paper investigated the effect of reducing NaCl addition (0–10%) by CaCl₂ in combination with a magnetic field (3.8 mT) on the edible quality of low-salt pork mince. It is desired to drive the application of magnetic field and CaCl₂ in low-sodium meat processing in this way. Results showed that the cooking yield, color, hardness, elasticity, mouthfeel, apparent texture, and orderliness of protein conformation of all minced pork were improved as compared to the control group, while the electron nose response values of their volatile sulfides and nitrogen oxides were decreased. In particular, the best edible quality and perceived salty intensity of minced pork gel was obtained by using CaCl₂ in place of 5% NaCl under magnetic field mediation. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy scans showed that the reduced NaCl treatment by magnetic field combined with CaCl₂ could increase the signal intensity of sodium in minced pork matrices to some extent. Magnetic field-mediated substitution of NaCl for CaCl₂ treatment was also found to be favorable for inducing the transition of the protein secondary structure from an irregularly coiled to a β-folded structure (demonstrated by infrared spectroscopy). In short, magnetic fields combined with CaCl₂ instead of NaCl was a highly promising method of producing low-NaCl meats.