Effect of Plasma Electric Field Assistance on the Freezing Process and Ice Crystal Formation of Bactrian Camel Meat

Abstract

Background: The longissimus dorsi muscle of the camel was chosen as the experimental material in order to investigate the impact of plasma electric field assisted freezing on the quality and freezing process of Bactrian camel meat. Methods: The effect of the auxiliary plasma electric field of different field strengths (1 kV/m, 3 kV/m and 5 kV/m) on the freezing velocity of the camel meat and the distribution of ice crystals as well as the diameter and roundness of ice crystal in the frozen meat were studied and analyzing them with the help of the thermodynamic theory. Result: The findings demonstrated that the meat samples in the auxiliary 5 kV/m plasma field environment took 60 min and 30 min, respectively, at -20°C and -35°C, to pass the maximal ice crystal production zone. The tissue sections revealed that at -20°C and -35°C assisted 5 kV/m plasma field freezing, the smallest ice crystal area and grain size were formed, the roundness of the ice crystals was highest. Using Boltzmann’s entropic equation to calculate the system’s entropy, the results revealed that the meat samples frozen by the aided 5 kV/m plasma electric field had the lowest entropy at -20°C and -35°C. The electric field assisted freezing requires less energy to improve the subcooling degree and accelerate the freezing rate of meat samples, proving that the auxiliary 5 kV/m plasma electric field can significantly improve the system frozen meat moisture vitrification degree and can make the crystallization process more controllable.