Research progress on effects of different thawing methods and repeated freezing and thawing on quality of frozen meat

HE Xiangli; YANG Qing; LI Ke

doi:10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.043576

Food and Fermentation Industries >

2026 , Vol. 52 >Issue 5: 424 - 434

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.043576

Research progress on effects of different thawing methods and repeated freezing and thawing on quality of frozen meat

HE Xiangli ,
YANG Qing ,
LI Ke

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1(College of Food and Biological Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450001, China)
2(Key Laboratory of Cold Chain Food Processing and Safety Control of Ministry of Education, Henan Key Laboratory of Cold Chain Food Quality and Safety Control, Zhengzhou 450001, China)

Received date: 2025-06-13

Revised date: 2025-07-27

Online published: 2026-03-25

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Abstract

The freezing and thawing processes both have significant impacts on the meat quality.The formed ice crystals during the freezing process squeeze the tissue cells and myofibrillar protein, leading to the problems such as weakened water-holding capacity and deteriorated protein gel in the meat after thawing.Consequently, the thawing method has a crucial influence on the final quality of frozen meat.This review describes the classification, advantages and disadvantages, principles, and influencing factors of traditional thawing methods (air and water thawing) and novel thawing methods (high pressure, vacuum, microwave, radio frequency, far-infrared, ohmic heating, magnetic field, and ultrasonic thawing).It also summarizes the effects of thawing and repeated freezing-thawing on the quality changes of meat, and envisions the future research directions for frozen meat, providing a theoretical basis for studying the effects of thawing on the quality of frozen meat.

Key words： frozen meat; thawing methods; repeated freezing and thawing; quality; protein gel

Cite this article

HE Xiangli , YANG Qing , LI Ke . Research progress on effects of different thawing methods and repeated freezing and thawing on quality of frozen meat[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2026 , 52(5) : 424 -434 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.043576

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