Abstract:

The highest content of myofibrillar proteins of edible parts from cultured crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) was
investigated. The extracted myofibrillar proteins were explored for the effects of NaCl concentration, pH and temperature
on their solubility, emulsifying properties and gel properties. The results showed that the content of myofibrillar proteins
in tail muscle ((7.95±0.12) g/100 g on a wet weight basis) was the highest; the electrophoretic patterns indicated that the
myofibrillar proteins mainly included myosin, paramyosin, actin, tropomyosin and troponin, and at low ionic strength had
poor solubility and emulsifying properties but good gel properties. The solubility and emulsifying properties increased
with increasing ionic concentration, while the opposite trend was observed for gel properties. With an increase in pH, the
solubility dramatically increased first but decreased later, and the emulsifying properties and gel properties showed a trend
of slow decline. The solubility and water-holding capacity (WHC) reached the lowest level at pH 5.5. With increasing
temperature, the gel properties increased significantly, and the WHC initially decreased followed by a slight increase,
reaching a desired level at a lower temperature (40 ℃) . Taken together, good texture quality and WHC of meat products
from Crocodylus siamensis can be obtained for myofibrillar proteins with 0.2 mol/L NaCl and heating at 80 ℃.

Key words: cultured Crocodylus siamensis, myofibrillar protein, solubility, emulsifying property, gel properties