Ice-temperature storage suppresses starch retrogradation and enhances shelf life of slippery pork: mechanistic insights and kinetic Modeling.

Abstract

Slippery pork, prized for its unique tender texture and flavorful starch-based coating, faces quality deterioration during storage, particularly through starch retrogradation and microbial spoilage. While temperature sensitivity is established, how storage temperature affects product quality remains inadequately understood. This study reveals ice-temperature storage effectively preserves starch-coated meat products by delaying quality deterioration and starch retrogradation. Compared to 4 °C and 10 °C storage, ice-temperature storage reduced shear force and hardness, while decreasing retrogradation enthalpy ΔH by 43.7% (P < 0.05). Storage progression universally induced textural hardening alongside starch structural reorganization, evidenced by 37.2 J/g enthalpy accumulation and increased short-range molecular order. Ice-temperature storage enhanced safety by suppressing microbial growth, lipid oxidation, and protein degradation. Quality changes followed zero-order kinetics, strongly correlating with starch retrogradation. FT-IR and DSC confirmed temperature-dependent starch restructuring mechanisms. These findings demonstrate ice-temperature storage optimizes preservation in starch-coated meat systems through dual physicochemical stabilization and microbial control.