Cathepsin activity and texture in Atlantic salmon muscle

Abstract

Cathepsins, a family of lysosomal proteases, are believed to play a role in muscle tenderization. In the present study the activity of cathapsin B+L in Atlantic salmon muscle and a possible influence on the textural quality was studied. Total of 98 Atlantic salmon from 10 families were slaughtered and pre-rigor filleted. This salmon fillet texture was measured instrumentally at 5 days post-mortem. The cathapsin activities were measured on muscle samples frozen immediately after slaughter. Statistically differences between families were observed for the break force (BF)of Atlantic salmon muscle texture but not for the cathepsin B+L activity. This paper was aiming to explore the relationship of Cathepsin B+L activity and break force but no significant correlation was found.