Quantifying heat intensity during thermal processing of smoked pork loin using p value kinetics

Mladen Rašeta; Radivoj Petronijević; Mirjana Lukić; Boris Mrdović; Jelena Jovanović; Elmin Tarić; Becskei Zsolt

doi:10.18485/meattech.2026.67.1.2

Mladen Rašeta Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology-Beograd https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9860-6681
Radivoj Petronijević Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology-Belgrade https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3901-3824
Mirjana Lukić Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7749-864X
Boris Mrdović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9964-4317
Jelena Jovanović Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0301-729X
Elmin Tarić University of Belgrade-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7801-1365
Becskei Zsolt University of Belgrade-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8724-5892

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2026.67.1.2

Keywords: Pasteurisation, Validation, Smoked pork loin, Thermal treatment, Thermocouple

Abstract

Smoked pork loin is a high-quality meat product available on the domestic and European markets. During production, it is subjected to a combination of smoking and roasting, while controlling the pasteurisation process remains a challenge. This smoked meat prod- uct is sold either packaged or unpackaged, and in retail, it is directly sliced in front of the consumer. During the thermal processing of smoked pork loin, food business operators typically validate temperature as a parameter for assessing process efficacy, with the intro- duction of heat continuing until 70 °C is reached at the thermal centre of the product, after which cooling begins. By using a thermocouple in the verification process of heat treat- ment, it was shown that the required temperature was achieved in all parts of the chamber. The initial temperature of the raw material, before the initiation of thermal processing, was 6.86–8.18 °C; the process itself lasted 6 hours and 20 minutes; and a temperature of 70 °C was achieved at all verification points (locations in the thermal processing chamber). The placement of probes significantly affected the measurement results, determining the pas- teurisation value (P value), which ranged from 53.8 to 640.42 minutes. The results confirm the safety of the product, with probes placed in the peripheral parts of the product showing significantly greater P values of 478.16–640.42 minutes, compared to probes placed in the central region at 186.29–205.49 minutes, and in the thermal centre at 53.8–93.08 minutes. The validation of thermal processing for smoked meat products should be established and implemented through P values (a minimum of 40 minutes is required), rather than through temperature, as is currently the case in the meat processing industry in Serbia.