Rapid Non-Destructive Prediction of Water Activity in Dry-Cured Meat

Abstract

Water activity (aw) describes the amount of free water available in a matrix for growth of microbiological pathogens and spoilage flora. It is used to predict the safety of food products, and has particular importance for dry-cured meat manufacturers. Results from tests on dry-cured pork (n = 83) demonstrate a high degree of correlation (R2 = 0.909) with current industry standard equipment. System accuracy at the 95% confidence interval (0.0125) is comparable with existing equipment available to industry. However, the added advantage of the microwave sensor to enable rapid and non-destructive measurement means that it could be used for day-to-day monitoring and optimization of products within the dry-cured meat value chain. This would reduce per-product operating costs and waste, in addition to facilitating recipe development (e.g., reduced salt).

Keywords

• microwave spectroscopy
• microwave sensor
• water activity
• non-destructive testing
• dry-cured meat