title: Small heat shock proteins and their role in meat tenderness: a review.
abstract: The eating quality of meat is a result of complex interactions between the biological traits and biochemical processes during the conversion of muscle to meat. It was hypothesised that muscles inevitably engage towards apoptotic cell death due to the termination of oxygen and nutrient supply to the muscle following exsanguination. Thus, factors that regulate the process of apoptotic cell death of muscle cells are believed to ultimately influence meat quality. Proteomic studies have associated the regulation of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) with various meat quality attributes including tenderness, colour, juiciness and flavour. Due to the anti-apoptotic and chaperone functions of sHSPs, they are proposed to be involved with the eating quality of meat. In this review, we discuss the possible chaperone and anti-apoptotic role of sHSPs during the conversion of muscle to meat and consider the repercussions of this on the development of meat tenderness.
authors.affiliation: Food Assurance and Meat Quality, AgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton New Zealand.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lomiwes
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Farouk
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wiklund
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002417:Cattle; D063427:Food Quality; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D050888:Heat-Shock Proteins, Small / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D040901:Proteomics; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013552:Swine; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D050888:Heat-Shock Proteins, Small; D009124:Muscle Proteins
keywords: Apoptosis; Chaperone; Intermediate pH; Meat quality; Small heat shock proteins; Tenderness