Effect of processing on turkey meat quality and proteolysis.
Modern processing techniques for turkey involve rapid chilling to slow microbial growth and early deboning of the economically important breast meat. This paper shows that these 2 processes lead to significantly tougher meat with higher cooking losses. The toughening appears to be due to less extensive proteolysis and shortening of the sarcomeres. Calpains I and II and their inhibitor, calpastatin, were quantified in turkey breast. Calpain II was the more common isoform but showed no evidence of activation during aging. In contrast, calpain I and calpastatin activities declined rapidly and were no longer detected 24 h postslaughter. There was no evidence of an association between calpain activity and processing conditions.
Obanor
F
F
National Centre for Advanced Bio-Protection Technologies, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand 8150.
Morton
J D
JD
Geesink
G H
GH
Bickerstaffe
R
R
D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D002154:Calpain / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005615:Freezing; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011786:Quality Control; D013997:Time Factors; D014422:Turkeys
D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; C033668:calpastatin; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D002154:Calpain