The effect of meat quality, salt and ageing time on biochemical parametersof dry-cured Longissimus dorsi muscle

Pieces of Longissimus muscle were used as models of dry-cured ham to study the effect of NaCl concentration, meat quality and ageing time on the bioch emical parameters related to the ham curing process. Higher amounts of adde d salt did not result in an increase in the protein extractibility. The act ivity of the lysosomal enzymes cathepsins D and B showed dependence on the ageing time, whereas cathepsin B and cathepsin B + L activities depended on meat quality. Cathepsin B + L activity increased with the addition of salt . Meat quality had an influence on all the parameters studied except on MFI , on cathepsin D activity and on the inhibitory activity on cathepsin B. Tw o protein bands likely to correspond to titin and nebulin were detected in the pherograms of myofibrillar proteins of muscle even those aged for as mu ch as 48 h and irrespective of meat quality. Titin was also found in the sa rcoplasmic protein fraction of salted samples from N and DFD meat, but not from PSE meat. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.