A survey of the dielectric properties of meats and ingredients used in meat product manufacture

The objective of the present study was to improve understanding of interactions between microwave (MW) and radio frequency (RF) radiation and meat/meat products. Dielectric properties at 27.12, 915 and 2450 MHz of lean, fat, aqueous solutions/suspensions and meat blends of typical ingredients used in meat product manufacture were measured. In addition temperature rises of ingredient/meat blends were compared following RF or MW heating. Frequency affected dielectric properties as did composition, with fat having lower dielectric activity than lean. Dielectric properties at MW frequencies appeared more sensitive to composition changes. Ingredients could be subdivided into groups having either lower or higher dielectric activity than lean, with concentration influencing which group an ingredient fell into. When low and high dielectric activity ingredients were incorporated into lean meats dielectric properties did not correlate well with temperature rises indicating the importance of other factors in addition to dielectric properties in determining temperature rise.