Proteomics discovery of protein biomarkers linked to meat quality traits in post-mortem muscles: Current trends and future prospects: A review

Background: Meat quality is a prerequisite to the consumer's acceptability and industrial profitability. Posttranslational modifications, changes in myofibrillar protein degradation and myoglobin oxidation have a great impact on meat quality during post-mortem aging of muscle. Applying proteomics to search for protein biomarkers to accurately assess meat quality is a new strategy to ensure high-quality meat. Scope and approach: The current progress of using proteomics to identify potential protein biomarkers of meat quality traits during post-mortem aging of muscles has been reviewed in this paper. The advantages and disadvantages of different methods of protein separation, identification and quantitative analysis are summarized. Some potential protein biomarkers of meat quality traits belonging to different biological pathways involved in muscle contraction, metabolism, heat stress, oxidation, proteolysis and apoptosis are debated. Recently, biomarkers have been used to characterize meat tenderness, color and water-holding capacity to better understand the biological processes and pathways occurring in post-mortem muscles, and their detailed molecular mechanisms are discussed in this review. Key finding and conclusion: Post-mortem aging of muscle is a complex process that involves physical and biochemical changes at the cellular level. Clarifying the changes and mechanisms of muscle-to-meat conversion is of great significance in identifying protein markers for assessing meat quality. Previous studies of the biomarkers linked to meat tenderness, color and water-holding capacity are summarized. We found that some great challenges still exist in characterizing and predicting the accuracy, stability and industrial application of meat quality biomarkers. Based on these studies, future research about biomarkers of meat quality traits are proposed to tackle these challenges and to assess the meat quality more accurately. Therefore, applying proteomics as an emerging technology can be helpful to ensure high-quality meat and provide economic benefits for the meat industry.