Abstract:

The present study was performed to illustrate the change of actomyosin in duck breast muscle upon heattreatment. We examined the effects of heating temperature (45, 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 ℃) and heating time (0, 1, 10, 20, 30and 60 min) on the dissociation of actomyosin in duck muscle as evaluated by Western blotting on the basis of the change inits content. Results showed no dissociation of actomyosin was observed when muscles were heated at 45 ℃ (P > 0.05). Withthe extension of heating time, the actin content increased at the early stages and then declined when muscles were heatedat 50, 55 or 60 ℃, but it was significantly higher when compared with that in the control group (P < 0.05). After heatingat 65 ℃ for 60 min, the actin content decreased to a level identical to that in the control group; however, after heating at70 ℃ for 30 or 60 min, the presence of actin was not detected. The results suggested that the dissociation of actomyosin wassignificantly improved when the muscle was heated at a temperature of 50–60 ℃ for 10–30 min.

Key words: duck breast, actin, heating