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Non-Destructive Prediction of NaCl Content in Pork During Ultrasound-Assisted Marination: Multiphysics Simulation and
Lina Guo1,2, Xin Ling1, Mengyue Lu1,3
1School of Food Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, No. 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212013, China.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 12, 2026
Summary
Ultrasound-assisted marination significantly speeds up salt (NaCl) penetration in pork, allowing for lower brine concentrations. Electrical impedance spectroscopy accurately predicts salt content in real-time during meat processing.
Area of Science:
- Food Science and Technology
- Biophysics
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Marination is crucial for flavor and preservation in meat products.
- Optimizing marination efficiency, particularly salt (NaCl) penetration, is essential for quality and reduced sodium intake.
- Current methods for monitoring marination are often time-consuming and destructive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of ultrasound-assisted marination on NaCl diffusion in pork.
- To evaluate electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for real-time, non-destructive monitoring of NaCl content during marination.
- To develop a simulation model for understanding ultrasound effects on marination.
Main Methods:
- Multiphysics simulation to model NaCl and moisture diffusion.
- Ultrasound-assisted marination experiments on pork tissue.
- Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements during marination.
- Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for residual salt and mass determination.
Main Results:
- Ultrasound significantly accelerated NaCl penetration, not moisture diffusion, allowing reduced brine concentration.
- EIS parameters (impedance, phase angle, Cole-Cole arc radius) showed systematic changes correlating with NaCl uptake.
- A strong linear correlation was found between EIS parameters and NaCl content.
- TGA confirmed higher residual NaCl and mass in ultrasound-treated samples.
Conclusions:
- Ultrasound-assisted marination enhances NaCl diffusion in pork, enabling efficient salt uptake with reduced brine concentration.
- EIS is a viable, non-destructive technique for accurate, real-time prediction of NaCl content during meat marination.
- Combining ultrasound technology with EIS offers a promising approach for optimizing industrial meat processing and quality control.
