Abstract:Objective This study aims to enhance the pickling speed and quality of salted duck eggs.Methods The vacuum high pressure pulsation technology is applied to salted duck eggs pickling. The effects of various parameters, including pickling duration, high pressure amplitude, vacuum holding time, and high pressure holding time on the salt content in duck eggs, yolk index, and yolk oiling rate are investigated by comparing with normal pressure soaking pickling (control group).Results Under a vacuum of 90 kPa and saturated brine conditions (NaCl mass fraction ≥25%), the optimal process involves a high-pressure amplitude at 110 kPa, a pulsation ratio (vacuum holding time/high pressure holding time) of 6/20 min, along with a total pickling duration of 72 hours. Under these conditions, the salted duck eggs are less damaged and have the best sensory evaluation. The salt content in egg white and yolk is 5.05% and 2.14%, respectively. The h* value is recorded at 79.42, while the yolk index and the yolk oiling rate are 0.89 and 17.27%, respectively. Notably, the pickling speed is nearly 10 times shorter than that of normal pressure soaking pickling.Conclusion The vacuum high pressure pulsation technology can significantly reduce the pickling duration while improving the quality of salted eggs when compared to normal pressure soaking pickling (P<0.05).