Abstract: This study focused on the demand for salt reduction in meat product processing. Controlled experiments were designed to investigate variations in the sodium chloride (NaCl) content, moisture content, color parameters, water distribution, and cooking loss rate of pork under different curing methods. The aim was to evaluate the impact of ultrasonic-assisted low-sodium curing with yeast extract (YE) and trehalose on the curing efficiency and eating quality of pork. The results showed that the ultrasonic-assisted curing treatment significantly increased the diffusion rate of NaCl (P < 0.05). The treatment decreased the cooking loss to 22.61% (𝑃 < 0.05) while increasing the moisture content to 78.9%. In addition, the surface color became more vivid and bright red. The textural properties including hardness, resilience, and chewiness were significantly improved. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) analysis revealed the water distribution in pork muscle became more homogeneous. The pork sample subjected to this treatment had the highest score in sensory evaluation. Thus, ultrasonic-assisted treatment with yeast extract and trehalose effectively enhances the mass transfer of salt and moisture and significantly improves pork quality under sodium-reduced conditions.

Key words: ultrasound, low-salt curing, yeast extract, trehalose, mass transfer kinetics, quality characteristics