Animal and biological factors involved in meat quality

Supervisor: Edi Piasentier

To enhance meat tenderness it is important to understand the biochemical mechanisms involved in the cell death process after slaughter. The conditions of hypoxia \ ischemia occurring during slaughter could activate caspases, and so apoptosis, similarly to what happens in neuronal and cardiac cells during ischemia. A series of these reactions are involved, and partially attributed, even to apoptosis as to necrosis. The objective of this study is to test this hypothesis, by assessing the activity of enzymes involved in the different biochemical events. Alpha II spectrin, PARP and their degradation products, derived from the activity of μ-calpain and caspase, would be identify and semi-quantify using Western Blott. PARP is inactivated by caspase cleavage, generating a distinct 89kDa fragment. During the necrosis, in the absence of caspases activity, PARP is not degraded. Immediately after death, caspase-mediated cleavage of full length 214 kDa alpha II spectrin generated 150 and 120 kDa degradation products. Alpha II spectrin can also be cleaved by the μ-calpain producing another 150 kDa peptide and 145 kDa peptide. Longissimus dorsi and infraspinatus, characterized by a different percentage of I and IIB fibers type, will be sampled at different times from exsanguination (20min, 48h and 7d), to verify the evolution of the activity of the considered enzymes and their contribution to meat tenderizing. The tenderness will be instrumentally and sensory measured at 7d.

Fundings: research contract “Evaluation of beef from double purpose breeds bred in Friuli Venezia Giulia”

Biography and contacts
Pizzutti Nicoletta was born in Italy in 1986, graduated in Animal Science (110 \ 110; class 79s) at the University of Udine. Since 2011 PhD student in “Agriculture Science and Biotechnology” XXVI cycle at the University of Udine.

Nicoletta.Pizzutti @ live.it
[Phone: 0432-558165]