Modeling of Chilled/Supercooled Pork Storage Quality Based on the Entropy Weight Method

Abstract

The entropy weight method (EWM) was developed and used to integrate multiple quality indexes of pork to generate a comprehensive measure of quality. The Arrhenius equation and chemical kinetic reaction were used to fit and generate the shelf life prediction model. The pork was stored at the temperatures of 7°C, 4°C, 1°C and −1°C. Quality indexes, such as drip loss, color, shear force, pH, TAC, TVB-N and TBARS were measured. The results show that low temperatures effectively delay microbial growth and lipid oxidation. The regression coefficients (R2 ) for the comprehensive scores at each temperature were greater than 0.973 and the activation energy Ea was 9.7354 × 104 kJ mol−1 . The predicted shelf life of pork stored at 7°C, 4°C, 1°C and −1°C was 4.35 d, 6.85 d, 10.88 d and 14.90 d, respectively. In conclusion, EWM is an effective method to predict the shelf life of chilled/supercooled pork.