Physicochemical and Microbial Quality of Prepackaged Shrimp Processed by a Scaled-Up Microwave-Assisted Induction Heating Technology

Abstract

A second generation and scaled-up equipment, named Aligo-2(TM) (microwave-assisted induction heating, MAIH) with a sample capacity of approximately 1.0 L was designed and invented by Bottle Top Machinery Co., Ltd., Taiwan. Pre-packaged raw shrimps were heated in a scaled-up system using heating temperatures of 130 & DEG;C and 90 & DEG;C for 80 to 150 s, and the physicochemical and microbial qualities were evaluated. The total plate count, psychrotrophic bacteria count, and coliform levels decreased as heating time increased, whereas the cooking loss, color (L*, a*, and W) value, and texture increased. When shrimps were heated for the longest time of 120 s at 130 & DEG;C or 150 s at 90 & DEG;C, they displayed obvious overcooked, shrunken, and dry appearance. To obtain samples that showed a red color, cooked well, and had no microbial count, better heating conditions for the processing of pre-packaged shrimps via the MAIH scale-up system were 130 & DEG;C for 100 s or 90 & DEG;C for 130 s. This novel and scaled-up MAIH equipment provides shrimp to be cooked after being packed, thereof avoiding the post-contamination problem.