Effect of ultrasonic rapid thawing on the quality of frozen pork and numerical simulation

Different ultrasonic power densities have positive implications for thawing frozen pork. This study investigated the effects of a 20 kHz ultrasonic frequency and different ultrasonic power densities (0, 10, 20, 27, 33, and 40 W/L) on the thawing loss, color, texture, pH value, and TBARS value of thawed frozen pork. It was found that ultrasonic rapid thawing significantly reduced the thawing time of frozen pork, with the shortest thawing time observed at an ultrasonic power density of 40 W/L, resulting in a 68.8% reduction in thawing time compared to static water thawing without ultrasonic treatment, and a 14.8% improvement in tenderness. When the ultrasonic power density exceeded 10 W/L, there were no significant differences in thawing loss, cooking loss, texture, color, pH value, and TBARS value of frozen pork compared to fresh pork. A numerical model of the acousto-thermal coupling of ultrasonic rapid thawing of frozen pork was also established in this study. The ultrasonic amplitude of the thawing process was visualized through numerical calculations. The predicted thawing time and thawing temperature of ultrasonic thawing showed a high degree of fit with experimental values. The average deviation (AD) of thawing time and temperature was 0.19–0.36 °C and 10–70 s. The root mean square error (RMSE) of thawing temperature was 0.09–0.32.