A MODEL FOR THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF FROZEN MEAT R. H. MASCHERONI. J. OqI'TINO & A. CALVELO Centro de lnt'estigaciOn y Desarrollo en Criotecnologia de Alirnentos (CIDCA) UNLP-CONICET-CIC. Facultad de Ciencias Exaetas UNLP, 47 )' 115. La Plata. Argentina (Received: 17 May, 1976) SUMMARY Even though extensive work on the experimental determination of" the thermal conductivities o./'JbodstuJ]s at different temperatures has been published, only a Jew predictive models for this important property have been developed. Calculation o f freezing times inJbods, such as meat, over the range_from - I °C to - 30 °C, requires the use of mathematical models in which information on the thermal conductivity of partially f~'o-en meat as a function of ice content in the tissue is provided. In the present paper a model fbr the thermal conductivity oJmeat as a fimction of" temperature, which also accounts for its anisotropic properties, is proposed. Both directions, parallel and perpendicular to meat fibres, are considered and the model applies to unfrozen as well as to partially J~'o:en meat. Res,dts show good agreement with published experimental data obtained by a stead)' state method for different temperatures. NOM ENCLATURE A,B,C et, e2, fl, 1"2 F ka kc kcl. k~p Constants defined in eqns. (15), (16) and (17) respectively. Coefficients in eqns. (19) and (20). Constant in eqn. (18). Water thermal conductivity (W/mK). Thermal conductivity of the continuous matrix. Thermal conductivity of the continuous matrix parallel to the meat fibre direction. Thermal conductivity of the continuous matrix perpendicular to the meat fibre direction. 235 Meat Science (i) (1977)--~ Applied Science Publishers Ltd. England. 1977 Printed in Great Britain