Effect of pigskin gelatin hydrolysate on the porcine meat quality during freezing

This research aimed to investigate the effects of pigskin gelatin hydrolysate (PGH) on the quality changes of longissimus lumborum (LL) muscles during freezing. The samples were firstly assigned into six groups, including control, sucrose and sorbitol group (SUSO) as positive control, 0%, 1%, 2% and 4% PGH group. The thawing loss of frozen meat, microscopic observation of ice crystal formed during freezing, myowater mobility in muscle tissues, and protein structure changes were determined. PGH reduced the thawing loss of frozen meat by 5.32%. Microscopic observation showed that ice crystal area reduced to 15.54% with 4% PGH treatment. The PGH also reduced the loss of immolized water in meat during freezing. The Raman spectra showed that the protein structure remained more intact in the group of 4% PGH. It can be concluded that the addition of PGH effectively diminished the deterioration of muscle qualities, enhanced the cryoprotective of the muscles during freezing, and this enhancement was associated with their increasing amount.