Effect of 4 °C and ice temperature on umami-enhancing nucleotides of conditioned pork

To study new methods to delay the umami taste attenuation of the conditioned pork, the ice temperature of pork, the content of nucleotides, lactic acid, pyruvate, glycogen, and activity of key endogenous enzymes were determined for the conditioned pork stored at 4 °C and ice temperature. The results indicated that the ice temperature of the pork ham bicipital muscle was -1.4 °C. The content of umami-enhancing nucleotides in pork stored at 4 °C decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing aging time, but all umami-enhancing nucleotides in pork stored at ice temperature were decreased significantly (p < 0.05), but the decrease rates were lower than those in pork stored at 4 °C. A possible reason for this was that the storage temperature influenced the activity of endogenous enzymes and glycolysis. Ice temperature storage was an effective method to inhibit the decrease in umami taste nucleotides in conditioned pork.