Date of Graduation

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Food Science

Advisor/Mentor

Setyabrata, Derico

Committee Member

Denzer, Morgan

Second Committee Member

Yancey, Janeal

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dry-aging and salt block utilization during dry aging on pork loin quality attributes. Pork loins were collected at 7 days postmortem, cut into three equal sections, and randomly assigned to wet aging (WA), traditional dry-aging (DA), and salt block dry-aging (SDA) groups to be aged for 28 days. During the dry-aging period, SDA cabinet exhibited lower humidity fluctuation (Avg. 71.52, St. Dev. 4.7) compared to DA cabinet (Avg 70.76, St. Dev. 7.9). Following the aging period, no differences were found in pH or Warner Bratzler shear force values between treatments (P>0.05). DA and SDA reported lower drip loss, and SDA demonstrated lower cook loss and higher lipid oxidation compared to WA loins. A significant treatment*day effect was observed for redness (a*), hue angle and chroma, where both DA and SDA had greater hue angle and reduced redness and chroma compared to WA from D5 until the end of display. A significant treatment effect was observed for APC and LAB, exhibiting a greater microbial count in both the lean and crust portions of the WA samples. Lower yeast and mold concentration was observed on DA crust compared to WA and SDA crust (P< 0.05). Limited volatile differences were found between treatments (P< 0.05). Based on these results, salt block utilization during dry aging presented some environmental control in the aging environment, but not a consistent or significant improvement in meat quality.

Keywords

Pork dry aging, Salt dry aging

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