Fresh pork hams and back fat were purchased in a local
market. All subcutaneous, intramuscular fat and visible
connective tissue were removed from the fresh pork muscles.
Trimmed muscles were ground through an 8 mm
plate, after which the ground tissue was placed in polyethylene
bags, vacuum packed using a vacuum packaging
system (FJ-500XL, Fugee Tech, Korea) and stored -20oC
until irradiation to minimize quality loss.