Effect of microbial transglutaminase on thermal and electrophoretic properties of ground beef

The effect of the different types of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) preparations on denaturation temperature and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) characteristics of myofibrillar proteins in ground beef was investigated. SDS-PAGE results showed that both MTGase preparations created cross-linking between meat proteins. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that addition of MTGase with sodium caseinate (SC) led to a slight increase in peak temperature (T-max) values of myosin. MTGase treatment caused a slight decrease in T-max values of myosin. Both MTGase and MTGase with SC treatments decreased denaturation enthalpy (Delta H-D) of myosin but did not affect Delta H-D of actin. Enzyme concentration had a significant effect on Delta H-D values of myosin (P<0.05). (c) 2004 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.