Duck Breast Research Articles

Profiling Analysis of N6-Methyladenosine mRNA Methylation Reveals Differential m6A Patterns during the Embryonic Skeletal Muscle Development of Ducks.

Simple SummaryRecent studies show that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification, the most common RNA chemical modification, influences the modification, processing, transport, and translation of RNA. N6-methyladenosine is an epigenetic modification that influences skeletal myogenesis and skeletal muscle development. However, the N6-methyladenosine modification profile and its function during poultry muscle development is unclear, and there is only one report about m6A modification in ducks, which focuses on duck hepatitis A virus infection. Here, we compared the m6A modification profiles between E13 (embryonic day 13) and E19 (embryonic day 19) in duck breast muscle differentiation using MeRIP-seq, and evaluated the expression profile of the methyl transferase METTL14 and its cofactors during breast muscle development. This is the first study of N6-methyladenosine modification patterns in duck muscle tissue. The current study not only elucidates the regulation mechanisms of duck skeletal muscle development, but also lays the groundwork for studying the role of RNA modification in poultry muscle development.N6-Methyladenosine is a reversible epigenetic modification that influences muscle development. However, the m6A modification profile during poultry skeletal muscle development is poorly understood. Here, we utilized m6A-specific methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing to identify m6A sites during two stages of breast muscle development in ducks: embryonic days 13 (E13) and E19. MeRIP-seq detected 19,024 and 18,081 m6A peaks in the E13 and E19 groups, respectively. Similarly to m6A distribution in mammalian transcripts, our results revealed GGACU as the main m6A motif in duck breast muscle; they also revealed that m6A peaks are mainly enriched near the stop codons. In addition, motif sequence analysis and gene expression analysis demonstrated that m6A modification in duck embryo skeletal muscles may be mediated by the methyltransferase-like 14. GO and KEGG analysis showed that m6A peaks containing genes at E19 were mainly enriched in muscle-differentiation- and muscle-growth-related pathways, whereas m6A peaks containing genes in E13 were mainly enriched in embryonic development and cell proliferation pathways. Combined analysis of MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq showed that the mRNA expression may be affected by m6A modification. Moreover, qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of METTL14 and its cofactors (WTAP, ZC3H13, RBM15 and VIRMA) during duck embryonic skeletal muscle development in breast and leg muscle samples revealed a significant downward trend as the developmental age progressed. Our results demonstrated that m6A mRNA methylation modifications control muscle development in ducks. This is the first study of m6A modification patterns in duck muscle tissue development, and it lays the foundation for the study of the effects of RNA modification on poultry skeletal muscle development.

Non-target metabolomics reveals the changes of small molecular substances in duck breast meat under different preservation time

Poultry products are an essential animal source of protein for humans. Many factors could destroy the balance of the poultry production chain and cause an overstock of products, which need to be stored in the frozen storage warehouse for a long time. The long-term frozen storage may affect the quality of meat products. In this study, the changes of small molecular substances were revealed in duck meat during long-term storage using non-targeted metabolomics. The results showed that compared with fresh meat, even if the meat is stored under frozen storage conditions, the number of differential metabolites of frozen storage meat continues to increase with the prolongation of storage time, indicating that the meat composition has changed significantly with the storage time increased. With the increase in storage time, the nitrogen-containing small molecular compounds in duck meat increased (carnosine and anserine, aspartic acid, and tyrosine, 1H-indole-3-acetamide, 2-Hydroxyphenethylamine, 2-Naphylamine, allocystathionine, and O-phosphoethanolamine), the nucleotides decomposition process strengthened (IMP and AMP, GMP and UMP), and the content of organic acid increased (5-hydroxy indole acetic acid, 5-hydroxypentanoic acid and phenylacetate, taurine) and carbohydrate (1-O-sinapoyl-beta-d-glucose, 4-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-d-mannose, and alpha-d-glucose). These small molecular substances can be used as biomarkers to detect long-term stored duck meat deterioration. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that protein catabolism, nucleotide catabolism, fat decomposition and oxidation, and carbohydrate decomposition were the main metabolic processes of meat deterioration during the long-term storage of duck meat. In addition, Non-target metabolome technology is a powerful tool to reveal the meat deterioration process during long-term storage systematically. This study provided a reference for optimizing domestic poultry meat storage methods and ensuring food safety.

A developed variable pressure-assisted salting process: Improving the textural, flavor, and sensory attributes in roasted duck breast

This study developed variable pressure salting (VPS) equipment to accelerate salting efficiency and improve the sensory qualities of roasted duck breast. It evaluated the effect of this VPS technology on the textural and flavor changes of roasted duck breast at different roasting stages (0–50 min) and examined the sensory attributes of the final products obtained after VPS and control treatment. The results indicated that the VPS treatment improved the water-holding capacity, tenderness, and salt concentration in roasted duck breast. After 50 min, the moisture content, immobilized moisture, and salt concentrations of the VPS samples increased by 3.58%, 5.69%, and 62.33%, respectively, compared with the control samples (static wet salting, SWS), while the shear force decreased by 45.63%. PLS analysis showed that hexanal, decanal, (E)-2-decenal, undecanal and benzaldehyde represented the main flavor compounds in the VPS samples, while (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, (E)-2-octen-1-ol, and (E)-2-octenal dominated in the SWS samples. Furthermore, VPS treatment enriched the fruity, almond, and orange flavor of the roasted duck breast. The sensory scores of aroma, tenderness, juiciness, and overall acceptance of the VPS samples were distinctly higher than that of SWS ones.

Growth performance and meat quality traits of Pekin ducks fed with different amounts of pelleted Ptecticus tenebrifer

AbstractTo determine the effects of pelleted feed forms of Ptecticus tenebrifer (PT) on the growth performance and meat quality traits of Pekin ducks, a total of 225 1‐d‐old Pekin ducks were randomly allocated into three treatment groups, each consisting of three replicates with 25 ducks. The three treatment groups were a control with basal diet; T1 with basal diet + 1.5% pelleted PT; and T2 with basal diet + 3% pelleted PT. An increase in weight gain and a decrease in mortality were observed in ducks fed either 1.5% or 3% pelleted PT compared with the control (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in initial and final body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion ratios among the three treatment groups (p > 0.05). Remarkable differences were observed in the meat quality traits of pH on day 7, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) on day 0, and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging values on days 3 and 7 (p < 0.05). Treatment groups of T1 and T2 presented reduced TBARS values and increased DPPH radical scavenging values compared with the control group. Although the breast meat red color did not show a significant difference among the three groups (p > 0.05), the lightness and yellowness of the meat were affected in groups fed pelleted PT on days 7 and 3, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusively, dietary supplementation with 1.5% and 3% pelleted PT could enhance weight gain, reduce mortality, and improve the antioxidant effect of duck breast meat.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Potential Meat Quality Trait Loci in Ducks.

With continuously increasing living standards and health requirements of consumers, meat quality is becoming an important consideration while buying meat products. To date, no genome-wide association study (GWAS) for copy number variants (CNVs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been conducted to reveal the genetic effects on meat quality in ducks. This study analyzed the phenotypic correlation and heritability of fat, water, collagen, and protein content of duck breast muscle. To identify the candidate variants for meat quality, we performed a GWAS using 273 ducks from an F2 population. The results of the SNP GWAS showed that the BARHL2, COPS7B, and CCDC50 genes were associated with fat content; BLM, WDR76, and EOMES with water content; CAMTA1, FGD5, GRM7, and RAPGEF5 with collagen production; and RIMS2, HNRNPU, and SPTBN1 with protein content. Additionally, 3, 7, 1, and 3 CNVs were associated with fat, water, collagen, and protein content, respectively, in duck breast muscle. The genes identified in this study can serve as markers for meat quality. Furthermore, our findings may help devise effective breeding plans and selection strategies to improve meat quality.

The Impacts of Different Pea Protein Isolate Levels on Functional, Instrumental and Textural Quality Parameters of Duck Meat Batters.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of pea protein isolate (PPI) on the functional, instrumental and textural quality parameters of duck meat batters (DMB). Ground duck breast meat was mixed with different concentrations of PPI (0%, 3%, 6% or 9%, w/w) to prepare DMB. The color, cooking yield, water-holding capacity, water distribution and migration, rheological properties and texture profile of the DMB were evaluated. The results showed that the L* value of the gel decreased and the b* value increased with the increasing pea protein addition. The cooking yield and water-holding capacity showed a gradual increase, but the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). Compared with the control, the storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) were higher at the beginning and at the end and increased with the addition of pea protein, which was in accordance with the Fourier series relationship. The hardness, chewiness and gumminess of the gels gradually increased; on the contrary, the springiness and cohesiveness first increased and then decreased, respectively, reaching a maximum value of 0.96 and 0.81 when the addition amount reached 6%. Adding pea protein to the gels not only increased the area of immobilized water but also decreased the area of free water, thus improving the water-holding capacity of the batters. Therefore, pea protein can promote the formation of a stable and elastic network structure of duck meat batters.

Improving gelling properties of myofibrillar proteins incorporating with cellulose micro/nanofibres

SummaryThe effects of cellulose microfibres (CMFs, Average size: 100 ± 5 μm) and cellulose nanofibres (CNFs, Average size: 60 ± 3 nm) on the properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels from duck breast meat were studied. The results demonstrated that CMFs and CNFs were mostly connected to MP by non‐covalent bonds, the diffusion and cross‐linking of MP molecules was promoted, and a denser and more complete gel network was formed. With the increases of CMFs and CNFs concentration (0–10%), the hardness was increased by 13.15% and 19.78% for CMFs10% and CNFs10% gels, respectively, and the elasticity was increased by 40% and 80%, respectively. At the same concentration (0–10%), the increase in gel hardness, viscoelasticity and immobilised water content was greater in the CNFs‐MP group than in the CMFs‐MP group. The CNFs‐MP group had a tighter gel network, and CNFs had a better potential to improve the gelation performance of MP.

Novel Water-Oil Mixed Frying: Fried Oil Quality and the Formation of Heterocyclic Amines and Trans Fatty Acids in Fried Duck.

The present study was conducted to explore the impact of novel water–oil mixed frying and traditional oil frying methods on the soybean oil quality and formation of trans fatty acids (TFAs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) in fried duck breast and skin during 60 frying cycles. The acid value of the soybean oil was 2.10 mg/g using the traditional oil frying and 1.08 mg/g using water–oil mixed frying at the 60th frying cycle. The peroxide value of the water–oil mixed fried soybean oil was significantly lower than that of the traditional frying method. Water–oil mixed frying delayed the formation of TFAs in the soybean oil. The traditionally oil fried skin showed increased TFAs (9tC16:1) content from 0.17 to 0.22 mg/g (29.4% increase), while those of the water–oil mixed fried samples increased from 0.16 to 0.20 mg/g (25.00% increase) compared to control. Harman, Norharman and AαC were detected in all the fried samples and PhIP was observed after the 20th frying cycle, while MeAαC was formed only at the 60th frying cycle in traditional fried duck breast. Therefore, it is concluded that the water–oil mixed frying method is more suitable to improve the quality and safety of fried duck skin and breast meat.

Identification of genes related to growth traits from transcriptome profiles of duck breast muscle tissue

The growth and development of duck skeletal muscle is an important economic trait that is genetically regulated. The internal mechanism underlying the regulation of skeletal muscle growth and development in ducks remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify candidate genes related to the growth of duck skeletal muscle. RNA-sequencing technology was used to compare the transcriptome of duck breast muscles in an F2 population with the high breast muscle rate (HB) and the low breast muscle rate (LB). A total of 14,522 genes were confirmed to be expressed in the breast muscle, and 173 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the HB and LB groups. Functional analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in biological processes and pathways of fat metabolism and muscle growth, especially the FABP3 and MYL4 involved in the PPAR signaling pathway and cardiac muscle contraction pathway. These findings deepened our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in muscle growth in ducks and provided a theoretical basis for improving duck production and breeding of ducks.

Determination of volatile flavor compounds in raw and treated duck meats of different body parts.

The compounds in volatile flavor substances in duck meats of three different body parts (breast, leg, and wing) were extracted by headspace solid-phase micro-extraction and determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 16 main volatile compounds including 4 hydrocarbons, 4 alcohols, 2 acids, 3 aldehydes, and 3 others (N-containing, S-containing) were identified in raw duck meats from three different body parts. The hydrocarbon compounds account for more than 50% of all volatile substances in all three body parts. And the percentage of hydrocarbon compounds in raw duck breast meat reaches 82.76%. A total of 81 volatile compounds including 15 hydrocarbons, 10 alcohols, 7 acids, 12 aldehydes, 4 esters, 19 S-containing and N-containing compounds, and 14 others were isolated and identified in 1hr-marinated and cooked duck meats. A total of 101 kinds of volatile flavor compounds including 13 hydrocarbons, 14 alcohol, 7 acids, 8 aldehydes, 12 esters, 23 S-containing and N-containing compounds, and 24 others were detected in 3hr-marinated duck meats of the three body parts. It was proved in this study that under the same conditions, the volatile compounds in duck legs are more than those in duck breasts and wings, and the types of volatile flavor substances increase significantly in duck meats after cooked. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Prepared and cooked duck meat, especially wings and legs are popular food in China. The results suggest that Pickling makes duck meat more flavory while proper pickling time is less than 3hr. Duck wings are better for marinating and cooking compared with duck breasts and legs. The acceptance study of duck meat from different body parts and the analysis of volatile flavor compounds are beneficial for optimizing utilization of whole parts of duck meat.

Dietary supplementation of resveratrol improved the oxidative stability and spatial conformation of myofibrillar protein in frozen-thawed duck breast meat

Effects of resveratrol-supplemented on the protein oxidation and changes of the protein structural properties of the duck breast muscle (stored in a refrigerator for 7-day at - 18 °C then 12 h at 4 °C) were investigated. A total of 600 1-day-old male ducks were randomly assigned into four groups: the control group (R0, 0 mg/kg dietary resveratrol) and resveratrol groups (R300, 300; R400, 400 and R500, 500 mg/kg dietary resveratrol). On the day 70 of age, ten ducks were selected and slaughtered and ducks breast muscle were stored at −18 °C then 12 h at 4 °C in each group. Resveratrol-supplemented inhibited the formation of carbonyl and dityrosine, and reduced the loss of sulfhydryl and Ca2+-ATPase activity, thus alleviating the modification, cross-linking and denaturation of proteins, whereas enhanced the solubility and the structure (free amino group, secondary structure) and decreased the fluorescence spectroscopy of the duck breast muscle protein. In summary, dietary resveratrol inhibited protein oxidation, enhanced protein structure of the duck breast muscle when subjected to storage, whereas the dietary resveratrol inclusion of 300–400 mg/kg would be more efficient.

Investigation of the changes in volatile composition and amino acid profile of a gala-dinner dish by GC-Ms and LC-MS/MS analyses

This study aimed to investigate the changes in volatile composition and amino acid profile of a dish “duck breast, beetroot mille-feuille” prepared in the Turkey Gala Dinner of an international gastronomy association. The ingredients collected from bazaars and chain markets were prepared and processed according to the original recipe. In raw ingredients and cooked products (P1, P2, and P3), volatile organic compounds were semi-quantitatively by GC-MS and amino acids quantitively by LC-MS/MS. The volatile composition and amino acid profile between P1, P2, and P3 products were tested with one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 20.0. In the final product, the dominant volatiles was found to be oily, waxy with lard and tallow notes (oleic acid), floral (squalene), and green-floral and citrus-floral (9-octadecenamide). In contrast, the dominant amino acid profile exhibited bitter-sweet and bitter-salty-sour tastes. The statistical test showed that the volatile composition among the product groups was not interrelated (p = 0.613412 > 0.05), whereas the amino acid profile was related (p = 0.067352 < 0.10). Overall, our study revealed that the desirable taste of the Gala-dinner dish “duck breast, beetroot mille-feuille” was formed by the co-existence of some dominant volatiles belonging to the fatty acid, triterpenoid, and fatty amide groups and some predominant amino acids, including valine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, and lysine, as well as depending on the preparation and cooking conditions.

Prediction of Peking duck intramuscle fat content by near-infrared spectroscopy

Peking duck is the most representative of the meat-type duck breed, and it is also one of the most popular meats in Asia. Few studies were reported on the fast assessment of duck meat quality. This study aimed to develop a fast measuring of duck fat content by using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) method. We measured 273 duck breast muscle intramuscle fat (IMF) content and spectra. Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to model the fat content prediction by using the spectra in the wavelengths between 950 and 1650 nm. The best predictive abilities were obtained after the first derivative pretreatment, with coefficient of calibration (R2C) of 0.92, with coefficient of prediction (R2P) of 0.90, ratio performance to deviation (RPD) of 2.72, and ratio of error range (RER) of 15.45, for samples of 30 g duck. Results demonstrated that the near-infrared spectroscopy is a useful tool for fat content assessment of Peking duck meat.

Effect of manganese supplementation on the carcass traits, meat quality, intramuscular fat, and tissue manganese accumulation of Pekin duck

Manganese (Mn) is a trace element present in all tissues and is essential for animal growth and health; it also has an antioxidant capacity in tissues. The effect of Mn on meat quality and the mechanism of fat deposition of the breast muscle is still unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of Mn supplementation on the growth performance, meat quality, the activity and transcription of antioxidant enzymes, and fatty acid profile in the breast muscle, and the Mn deposition in tissues of Pekin ducks. A total of 896 one-day-old Pekin ducks were allocated into 7 groups, with 8 replicates, each replicate containing 16 ducks. The treatment diets consisted of basal diet supplemented with manganese sulfate at levels 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 240 mg/kg (as Mn). Results showed that ducks fed diets supplemented with Mn had no effect on the growth performance but decrease in the feed-to-gain ratio of day 1–14 (P < 0.01). Dietary Mn increased significantly the a∗ (redness) value of the duck breast meat at 24 h and intramuscular fat (P < 0.05), and decreased drip loss and shear force of the breast meat (P < 0.05). Manganese supplement significantly reduced the malondialdehyde content (P < 0.05), and significantly increased the mRNA expressions of manganese superoxide dismutase, thioredoxin 2, peroxiredoxin 3, and catalase (P < 0.05). About the fatty acid profile, dietary Mn increased (P < 0.05) the proportions of the C20 family. Manganese accumulation in the heart, breast muscle, and tibia was increased with Mn supplementation (P < 0.05), and Mn content of the heart conforms to the quadratic curve. Besides, Mn supplementation notably increased mRNA expression in genes involved in lipogenesis and deposition and decreased in genes associated with lipolytic in the breast muscle. These findings reveal that dietary Mn could improve meat quality and enhance antioxidant activity and intramuscular fat, which via regulated gene expression involved in lipogenesis and lipolytic.

Dietary resveratrol supplement improves carcass traits and meat quality of Pekin ducks

With the increase of consumer demand for high-quality animal protein, it becomes imperative to improve meat quality through nutritional strategy. Resveratrol is a plant polyphenol that exists in grapes and grape products, and it has been considered as a potential functional feed additive. Here, we aimed to explore the optimal dose of resveratrol in Pekin ducks' diet and its effect on improving meat quality. A total of 432 male Pekin ducks (1-day-old) were selected and randomly allotted to 4 treatment groups, with each group containing 6 replicates. Four different levels of resveratrol were evaluated (0, 150, 300, and 450 mg/kg) for 42 d. The carcass traits, meat quality, and muscle fiber characteristics of Pekin ducks were investigated. Results showed that a∗24h, b∗24h, intramuscular fat, crude protein, total flavor amino acid content of duck breast muscle, and a∗45min of duck leg muscle were increased (P < 0.05) by resveratrol. Resveratrol also reduced abdominal fat deposition, shear force, L∗45min of breast muscle and drip loss, shear force, and L∗45min of leg muscle. In addition, the breast muscle fibers of resveratrol-fed ducks had lower diameter and cross-sectional area and higher density (P < 0.05). Overall, we conclude that dietary resveratrol supplement can effectively improve Pekin duck meat quality, the optimal additional range in diet being 300 to 450 mg/kg. Its underlying mechanism might be partly through stimulation of intramuscular fat and flavor amino deposition and alteration of muscle fiber characteristics.

Classification and detection of testosterone propionate and nandrolone residues in duck meat using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis

There is a critical need for a rapid and simple method of qualitative and quantitative analysis of testosterone propionate (TP) and nandrolone (NT) residues in duck meat. In this study, we applied surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled multivariate analysis for the classification and detection of TP and NT residues in duck meat. A total of 294 duck meat extract samples were obtained from duck breast meats based on a LC-MS/MS sample preparation method with slight modification including 102 duck meat extract samples without TP and NT, 43 duck meat samples containing TP, 47 duck meat extract samples containing NT, and 102 duck meat extract samples containing TP and NT. Raw Raman spectra were pretreated by using adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least squares (airPLS), normalization and first derivative, and then the score values of first 10 principal components were selected as the inputs of the developed models. A particle swarm optimization–support vector classification (PSO-SVC) model was created to classify all the duck meat samples into the 4 groups (i.e., control group, TP group, NT group, and TP combined with NT group) with the classification accuracies of 99.49 and 100% for training set and test set, respectively. Furthermore, 2 least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR) models were developed to predict the TP values in samples with a determination coefficient (R2) value of 0.9316, root mean square error (RMSE) value of 2.1739, and ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD) value of 3.2189 for the test set, and NT values in samples with an R2 value of 0.9038, RMSE value of 2.2914, and RPD value of 2.9701 for the test set. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technology, in combination with multivariate analysis, has the potential to become the qualitative and quantitative analysis tool for TP and NT residues in duck meat extract.

Duck breast muscle proteins, free fatty acids and volatile compounds as affected by curing methods

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different curing methods on protein structure, protein and lipid oxidation, lypolysis and volatile compounds in duck breast meat. The results showed that compared to static brining and pulsed pressure salting, the vacuum tumbling curing significantly decreased the oxidation of proteins and lipids, and the surface hydrophobicity of proteins, increased α-helix structure but decreased the proportion of β-sheet, and increased actomyosin dissociation, liplysis and the free fatty acid content in meat. Meanwhile, vacuum tumbling curing decreased the amount of volatile flavor compounds, hexanal, 2,3-octanone, and off-flavor compounds 1-octen-3-ol and 1-hexanol. This study suggests that concerns on healthiness and the sensory quality of processed meat products should be paid in the selection of curing methods and vacuum tumbling curing is superior in terms of both aspects.

Dietary curcumin decreased lipid oxidation and enhanced the myofibrillar protein structure of the duck (Anas Platyrhynchos) breast muscle when subjected to storage

Effects of dietary curcumin given to ducks on chemical composition, lipid and protein oxidation and changes of the protein structural properties of the duck breast muscle when subjected to storage (7-day at −18 °C then 12 h at 4 °C) were investigated. A total of 600 1-day-old male ducks were randomly assigned into four groups: the control group (T0, 0 mg/kg dietary curcumin) and curcumin groups (T300, 300 mg/kg; T400, 400 mg/kg and T500, 500 mg/kg dietary curcumin). On the day 70 of age, six ducks were selected and slaughtered and ducks breast muscle were stored at −18 °C then 12 h at 4 °C in each group. There were no significant effects of dietary curcumin on the chemical composition of the duck meat. Dietary curcumin significantly decreased the PV value, TBARS value and carbonyls group content, whereas enhanced the structure (free amino group, secondary structure) and decreased the fluorescence spectroscopy of the protein of the duck breast muscle when subjected to storage. In conclusion, dietary curcumin given to ducks decreased the lipid and protein oxidation, enhanced protein structure of the duck breast muscle when subjected to storage, whereas the dietary curcumin inclusion of 400–500 mg/kg would be more efficient.

The Effect of Age on the Myosin Thermal Stability and Gel Quality of Beijing Duck Breast.

The effect of age (22, 30, 38, and 46 days) on Beijing duck breast myosin gels was investigated. The results showed that the water holding capacity (WHC) and gel strength were markedly improved at the age of 30 days. Differential scanning calorimetry suggested that the myosin thermal ability increased at the age of 30 and 38 days (p<0.05). A compact myosin gel network with thin cross-linked strands and small regular cavities formed at the age of 30 days, which was resulted from the higher content of hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds. Moreover, the surface hydrophobicity of myosin extracted from a 30-day-old duck breast decreased significantly under temperature higher than 80°C (p<0.05). This study illustrated that myosin extracted from a 30-day-old duck’s breast enhanced and stabilized the WHC, thermal stability and molecular forces within the gel system. It concluded that age is an essential influencing factor on the myosin thermal stability and gel quality of Beijing duck due to the transformation of fibrils with different myosin character.

Physicochemical Properties of Pekin Duck Breast Meat from Ducks Fed Diets Containing Different Types of Sipjeondaebo-Tang by- Products and Red Ginseng Marc with Fermented Red Koji

Physicochemical Properties of Pekin Duck Breast Meat from Ducks Fed Diets Containing Different Types of Sipjeondaebo-Tang by- Products and Red Ginseng Marc with Fermented Red Koji