Postmortem proteome degradation profiles of longissimus muscle in Yorkshire and Duroc pigs and their relationship with pork quality traits

Abstract

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2009.08.030 Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. Postmortem proteome degradation profiles of longissimus muscle in Yorkshire and Duroc pigs and their relationship with pork quality traits Marinus F.W. te Pasa, , , Jaap Jansena, Konrad C.J.A. Broekmanb, Henny Reimerta and Henri C.M. Heuvenc, d aAnimal Breeding and Genomics Centre (ABGC), Wageningen University and Research Centre – Animal Sciences Group (ASG-WUR), P.O. Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands bHypor BV, A Hendrix Genetics Company, Best, The Netherlands cABGC, Department of Breeding and Genetics, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands dClinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80163, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands Received 30 October 2008; revised 18 June 2009; accepted 10 August 2009. Available online 15 August 2009. Abstract Conversion of muscle to meat is regulated by complex interactions of biochemical processes that take place during postmortem storage of the carcass. Enzymatic proteolysis, among other postmortem biochemical phenomena; e.g. glycolysis; changes tough intact muscle tissue into more tender meat. Knowledge on proteome-wide proteolysis of muscle tissue in relation to meat quality is limited and potential breed-specific differences have received little attention. Therefore, we investigated meat quality traits and proteolysis profiles of the longissimus proteome of five Yorkshire and five Duroc pigs at slaughter and after 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10 days of ageing. Drip loss increased with ageing while cooking loss was unchanged in both breeds. Shear force varied between animals and decreased with ageing. Analysis of the proteomes showed four types of temporal expression profiles. Association analysis suggested several potential protein biomarkers for drip loss and shear force in both breeds, but none for cooking loss. Keywords: Proteomics; Meat; Proteolysis; Biomarkers