An in-depth understanding of mass transfer during brining process is important for improving the quality and characteristics of meat products. In this study, a fitted equation of time and NaCl concentrations in the aqueous phase of beef was established to calculate the NaCl diffusion coefficient for simulation. A three-dimensional simulating model of mass transfer was developed to evaluate the NaCl diffusion in beef during brining process. And the validity of this simulating model was verified by comparing the NaCl concentrations evaluated by the numerical simulation simulated with the experimental measurements. The results indicated that the power function time variant equation can predict NaCl concentrations (R2 = 0.995) and accurately calculate the NaCl diffusion coefficient (8.46 × 10-10 m2 /s). The simulating model visually showed the NaCl diffusion in beef during brining process. Therefore, this research provided a new method for predicting the NaCl diffusion in realistic meat processing. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This research gives a new method for predicting the NaCl diffusion in meat product. The method accurately evaluated NaCl concentrations in beef at different brining time and clearly showed NaCl diffusion in beef during brining process, which could be helpful in reducing the cost and the complexity of detecting NaCl concentrations in meat during brining process.
Keywords: NaCl; beef; brining; diffusion; modeling.
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