Mechanisms Associated with Quality Deterioration for Vacuum-Packaged Pork Jerky During Accelerated High-Temperature...

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Food Chemistry
• Quality Control

Background:

• Pork jerky is susceptible to quality degradation, especially in hot, humid environments during distribution.
• Understanding deterioration mechanisms is crucial for maintaining product quality and extending shelf-life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the deterioration patterns and chemical mechanisms of vacuum-packaged pork jerky under accelerated high-temperature and high-humidity storage.
• To identify key factors contributing to quality loss and establish a basis for shelf-life evaluation.

Main Methods:

• Vacuum-packaged pork jerky was stored at 65 °C and 85% relative humidity.
• Evaluated sensory quality, physicochemical properties, oxidation (lipid, protein, myoglobin), non-enzymatic browning, and protein digestibility.
• Utilized multivariate analyses to characterize deterioration processes.

Main Results:

• Sensory acceptability dropped significantly, reaching a 50% rejection rate by day 14.
• Quality deterioration manifested as color darkening, texture hardening, and microstructural changes.
• Increased lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, myoglobin oxidation, and non-enzymatic browning correlated with sensory decline.
• Microbial counts remained low, indicating chemical degradation as the primary cause.

Conclusions:

• Chemical changes, particularly lipid and protein oxidation and non-enzymatic browning, are the main drivers of pork jerky deterioration under extreme conditions.
• The study provides critical insights for quality control and shelf-life assessment of pork jerky, especially for challenging storage environments.