Proteome Changes in biceps femoris Muscle of Iranian One-Humped Camel and Their Effect on Meat Quality Traits

In this study physicochemical and quality traits of biceps femoris and longissimus thoracis muscles of male and female Iranian one-humped camel were determined during 14 days of refrigeration storage. Analysis of variance of the results showed that only shear force and temperature were affected by the gender (p<0.05). Anatomical location of the muscle influenced the meat properties except for drip loss (p<0.05). Also, except for cooking loss, ageing influenced the physicochemical and quality properties of meat; during 14 days of storage, proteolysis resulted in an increase of L* and b* values, drip loss and myofibrillar fragmentation index, and the decrease of a* value, expressed juice, shear force and sarcomere length. Proteome changes (myofibrillar proteins) during storage were investigated. Gel analysis revealed that 19 protein spots were significantly changed during 24, 72 and 168 h post-mortem. Fifteen spots were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer. Correlation analysis revealed significant correlations of actin, troponin T, capping protein, heat shock proteins (HSP) and desmin with physicochemical and quality properties of meat (p<0.05). Actin might be a potential protein marker for colour, tenderness and water-holding capacity, and HSP27 and desmin are good candidate markers for colour and tenderness, respectively.