Impact of Ultrasound-assisted Saline Thawing on the Technological Properties of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

The aim of the study was to evaluate the positive effect of ultrasound-assisted saline thawing (UST) on the technological properties (water mobility, water holding capacity, colour, pH, shear force, TVB-N, oxidation reaction and microstructure) of mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). The results present in the study showed that different thawing methods had negative impacts on the quality of mirror carp to varying degrees. Among them, UST samples had significant lower thawing loss, centrifugal loss and cooking loss than ultrasound thawing (UT) and air thawing (AT) samples (P < 0.05). The analysis result of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance illustrated that UST inhibited the mobility and distribution of water effectively. Decrease in shear force and TVBN values were observed in all thawing samples, and the UST samples maintained the significant better texture property and freshness than UT and AT samples did (P < 0.05). In addition, the treatment of UST obtained 1% salt concentration inhibited the oxidation reactions effectively. Investigation of the microstructure of samples demonstrated that the treatment of UST kept the relatively complete structure of tissue than other thawing methods. Therefore, UST can be an alternative strategy to the traditional thawing of meat.