Non-Thermal and Thermal Food Processing: Microwaves, Irradiation and Novel Technologies

• Assertion (A) is True: Quick freezing ($\gt 1\text{--}5\text{ cm/h}$) is vastly superior to slow freezing because it produces numerous microscopic ice crystals uniformly distributed both inside and outside muscle cells, preserving sarcolemma integrity and minimizing freeze-induced thaw drip and structural distortion.
• Reason (R) is True: As water freezes out of solution as pure ice, the residual unfrozen water becomes progressively concentrated with mineral salts and organic solutes, progressively lowering the freezing point until the eutectic point (the temperature where the entire mixture solidifies simultaneously) is reached.
• Relationship: While both are true physical phenomena in meat cryo-preservation, (R) describes eutectic thermodynamic behavior rather than explaining why small intracellular ice crystals in quick freezing reduce cellular damage.

Correct option: (2) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is NOT the correct explanation of (A).