Effects of Different Thawing Methods on Quality Characteristics of Donkey Meat
Frozen donkey meat was thawed by five methods including natural air,low temperature,run-ning water,ultrasonic wave and microwave.The changes of thawing time and eating quality(water retention,tenderness,color and pH),total volatile basic nitrogen(TVB-N)and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances(TBARS)of thawed meat were analyzed.The sensory evaluation of thawed donkey meat was also carried out.The results showed that the thawing time of the five methods was obviously different,which was sequenced as microwave thawing<ultrasonic thawing<water thawing<air thawing<low temperature thawing.The color of donkey meat after microwave thawing,low temperature thawing and ultrasonic thawing was the best,and the water retention of donkey meat after microwave thawing and low temperature thawing was the best.The shear force of donkey meat after low temperature thawing and ultrasonic thawing was significantly smaller compared with other thawing methods.Among the five thawing methods,the TVB-N value and TBARS value after micro-wave thawing were the lowest,but the shear force value was larger.The donkey meat thawed by low tempera-ture and microwave had a good sensory experience compared with fresh donkey meat.In summary,microwave thawing could better maintain the quality of donkey meat,but the thawing conditions still need further study.