Enhancing brining efficiency and pork quality through electro-heating pretreatments: Insights from salt diffusion modeling and water transport dynamics

This study evaluated the impact of electro-heating pretreatments on brining kinetics and meat quality in pork. Pork samples with an average weight of 4 ± 0.15 g were pretreated using ohmic heating at 10 V cm⁻¹ (OH10) and 40 V cm⁻¹ (OH40) or pulsed ohmic heating at 175 V cm⁻¹ (POH175) and then immersed in a 15 % NaCl brine solution at 4 °C for up to 48 h. Salt uptake, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking loss (CL), color, and electrical conductivity were measured, and the data analyzed in comparison with the untreated control group. The results indicated that POH175 pretreated samples significantly accelerated salt diffusion, achieving near-equilibrium levels within 4 h, compared to 18–24 h required by the control and samples treated at lower electric fields. This result was also confirmed by the higher effective diffusivity of salt in pork, which was predicted using both empirical (Weibull) and Fickian-based approaches. Water-holding capacity decreased noticeably in the POH175 pretreated samples, suggesting mild structural modifications of muscle proteins, which may have contributed to the observed increase in cooking losses. However, color stability was enhanced under higher electric field strengths, suggesting possible protective interactions of the electric field with muscle pigments. These findings highlight the potential of electro-heating pretreatments, particularly POH175, as a promising strategy for expediting brining while maintaining acceptable meat quality. This approach offers potential industrial benefits by reducing processing time, improving salt uniformity, and minimizing adverse effects on product attributes.