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Apoptosis during postmortem conditioning and its relationship to duck meat quality
Muhan Zhang1, Daoying Wang, Wei Huang
1Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, PR China.
Food Chemistry
|December 26, 2012
Summary
Skeletal muscle apoptosis in ducks is linked to meat quality. Increased apoptosis positively correlates with better meat color, cooking loss, and tenderness, while decreasing shear force.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Food Science
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Meat quality is influenced by postmortem muscle changes.
- Skeletal muscle apoptosis plays a role in cellular changes after death.
- Understanding these processes is crucial for optimizing meat production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between skeletal muscle apoptosis and meat quality in ducks.
- To analyze how apoptosis affects key meat quality parameters postmortem.
Main Methods:
- Duck breast and thigh meat were analyzed postmortem.
- Meat quality traits including color, cooking loss, myofibril fragmentation index (MFI), and shear force were measured.
- Apoptosis was assessed using the Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method.
Main Results:
- Apoptosis showed a positive correlation with meat color (L(*), a(*), b(*)), cooking loss, and MFI (P<0.05).
- Apoptosis was negatively correlated with shear force (P<0.05), indicating increased tenderness.
- Higher levels of skeletal muscle cell apoptosis were associated with improved meat quality attributes.
Conclusions:
- Duck skeletal muscle cell apoptosis is a significant factor in postmortem meat quality development.
- Apoptosis influences meat color, water-holding capacity, and tenderness.
- This research provides insights into cellular mechanisms affecting meat characteristics.
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