Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This study  evaluated the impact of high intensity ultrasound (HIU)- assisted brining on the physicochemical characteristics and consumer preference of smoked pork loin. The study is interesting, scientifically sound, well-written and of value for the scientific audience. I just would like to ask authors to add a section in the discussion about the potential adverse health effects related to the use of HIU assisted brining.  

 

Author Response

We thank the reviewer for the comment. In that sense, we had included a paragraph in the introduction, rather than in the discussion. Since there is not information about adverse health effects on consumers of ultrasonicated food. Additionally, we had mentioned why ultrasound cannot directly affect the health of consumer, but also, we mentioned that is advised to investigate the possibility of the risk.

Reviewer 2 Report

The article discusses “Processing smoked pork loin using ultrasound-assisted curingy”. This study focuses  evaluate the impact of high intensity ultrasound (HIU) assisted brining on the physicochemical characteristics and consumer preference of smoked pork loin (Longissimus dorsi, LD) Overall, the manuscript is satisfactory and interesting. However, this paper requires minor revisions to be suitable for publication.

From the abstract alone, it is hard to understand what was done in this study and with what aim. It should be rewritten. Overall, the motivation of this work needs to come out more clearly. The introduction is rather confusing to read. What was the issue, what was done. This is not very clear at present.

 

 

Author Response

Many thanks for the comments. We restructured the abstract and the introduction to clarify the points that the reviewer had observed. As well, we had re-check the language with a native speaker. All changes are in red color along the document. 

Related to the reason and problem, we try to explain in the manuscript that the reason for carrying out this research was to deepen the knowledge of the effect of HIU on processed products, particularly in smoked products. We had evidence of the positive impact on mass transfer by the HIU (Contreras-Lopez, et al., 2020). Nevertheless, in combination with a conservation process such as smoking, no information existed on the effect on the technological quality of smoked-meat products.

Related to the introduction, this now begins with a brief description of the importance of marinated products, the importance of preserving traditional foods, and the exploration of new technologies, such as HUI, which can replace or make traditional thermal methods more efficient with other techniques capable of reducing changes in the technological characteristics of meat. Subsequently, the HUI technology and the evidence of this technology in the application of meat products are described. The findings were reported by the research group and other group research in Mexico [12,13]. Information on the null effect of the HUI on the health of consumers is included, to finish clarifying the aim of the study.