Desorption isotherms for cooked and cured beef and pork Original Research Article

Desorption isotherms of cured and cooked beef and pork were obtained in a temperature range 10–50°C using the Novasina AWC203 multi-channel system. Beef and pork desorption curves show type III of the five general types of sorption isotherms due to the soluble components such as salts present in the samples. An inversion point was observed in pork while experimental beef curves indicate that an increase in temperature results in a decrease in equilibrium moisture content. Several sorption models were tested and the Iglesias and Chirife equation followed by Ferro Fontan, Peleg and GAB models was found to describe better pork and beef experimental data in the water activity range 0.10–0.94 and for the whole range of temperatures. Isosteric heats of desorption evaluated by applying the Clausius–Clapeyron equation to experimental isotherms are also reported.