CHARACTERISTICS OF SARCOPLASMIC PROTEINS AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH MYOFIBRILLAR PROTEINS

The protein solubility and molecular‐weight distribution of freeze‐dried sarcoplasmic proteins (SPs) from rockfish treated under low and high pH as well as various NaCl concentrations were elucidated. The solubility of SPs was significantly suppressed at an acidic pH (2.0–4.0) and in the presence of high salt concentration (0.5 M NaCl). The least amount of protein was lost when SPs were treated at pH 2.0 or 3.0 followed by precipitation at pH 5.5. The interaction of SPs with Alaska pollock surimi (myofibrillar proteins) was also investigated. The addition of SPs appeared to delay the thermal denaturation of myosin and actin. The SPs positively contributed to the gelation of myofibrillar proteins as judged by breaking force.     

ROLE OF IONIC STRENGTH IN BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLUBLE FISH PROTEINS ISOLATED FROM CRYOPROTECTED PACIFIC WHITING MINCE

Biochemical characteristics of Pacific whiting muscle proteins extracted at acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions were investigated as affected by various ionic strength levels. The protein solubility at pH 4 declined, as NaCl was added up to 200 mM, due to protein aggregation through hydrophobic interactions. In contrast, at pH 7 and 10, solubility increased as NaCl was added up to 400 mM after which it remained constant. Changes in total SH content and S_owere highly related to the different molecular weight distributions of the soluble proteins. At pH 4, myosin heavy chain (MHC) was soluble as evidenced by the presence of MHC in the soluble fraction, even though degraded molecules were shown at IS 10–100 mM, and became completely insoluble at IS ≥ 150 mM. At pH 10, the density of the MHC band gradually increased as IS increased and the formation of high MW polymers was observed at IS ≥ 150 mM.     

ROLE OF pH IN SOLUBILITY AND CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES OF PACIFIC WHITING MUSCLE PROTEINS

This study was conducted to better understand biochemical changes of fish muscle proteins as affected by novel surimi process, acid- or alkali-aided solubilization. At 10 mM NaCl, between pH 5 and 10, the solubility of Pacific whiting muscle proteins was low but increased dramatically as the pH was shifted to either acidic or alkaline pH. At 600 mM NaCl, the isoelectric point was shifted to the acidic direction by about 2 pH units, resulting in aggregation of proteins at low pH, but improving the solubility of MHC (myosin heavy chain) between pH 6 and 10. ANS surface hydrophobicity (ANS-S_O) showed much greater values than PRODAN surface hydrophobicity (PRODAN-S_O) for samples treated at pH 2 - 4 perhaps due to an enhancement of the electrostatic interactions between the ANS probe and proteins. At very high pH, according to hydrophobicity results, proteins were partially refolded when the ionic strength increased. Under acidic conditions, SDS-PAGE demonstrated the degradation of MHC at 10 mM NaCl. The formation of MHC polymers was observed under alkaline treatment with a concomitant decrease of SH content.