Abstract
The study investigates the changes in meat organoleptic characteristics and sarcoplasmic proteins of 3 horse muscles during aging. Longissimus lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles, were removed from 12 Italian Heavy Draft Horse carcasses and aged for 1, 3, 6, 9 and 14 days. The lowest values of hardness and chewiness were found in LL muscle. During aging, a decrease of hardness was observed in ST muscle reaching the lowest value at 14 days. 2DE revealed a decrease of 15 sarcoplasmic protein spots in all muscles. Muscle-differences were found at 14 days. An increase of tropomyosin spots was found in LL muscle while, ST was characterized by a rise of superoxide dismutase, phosphoglucomutase-1 and two isoforms of myoglobin. Principal component analysis applied to color, texture parameters and spots volume differentiated the muscles into three different clusters. Data revealed that myofibrillar, glycolytic and mitochondrial proteins are potential muscle-biomarkers to monitor post-mortem processes and meat quality characteristics in horse meat.
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