Evaluation of the protein change in the meat of Nellore beef cattle with contrasting shear force

Abstract Text: Nellore beef cattle, a Bos indicus breed, is well adapted to tropical conditions and has allowed Brazil to become one of the world’s largest beef producers. Nevertheless, Bos indicus breeds are reported to have less tender meat than Bos taurus. A group of 138 animals was evaluated for Longissimus thoracis muscle shear force (SF). Six animals with the highest and lowest SF were then selected for protein abundance studies. Samples were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) to identify differentially expressed proteins associated with SF. Eight differentially expressed spots were observed (p < 0.05). These spots were submitted to a multiple regression analyses and three of them (41, 42 and 72) appeared in the best models for tenderness prediction in the three meat aging times: 24 h, 7 and 14 days. New approaches are needed to identify the protein spots and their corresponding genes.

Keywords: Bos indicus, proteomics, tenderness