Abstract: The traditional high-temperature sterilization process often leads to deteriorated texture and reduced water-holding capacity (WHC) in prepared meat products. To improve the processing quality of prepared pork slices, a two-stage heating method was employed, in which a low-temperature preheating step (45~60 °C for 1~3 h) was introduced before high-temperature sterilization at 121 °C. Conventional heating (100 °C for 30 min followed by 121 °C for 5 min) was used as the control.
