Identification of Protein–Phenol Adducts in Meat Proteins: A Molecular Probe Technology Study
Fenhong Yang,
Yingying Zhu,
Xiaohan Li,
Fengtao Xiang,
Moru Deng,
Wei Zhang,
Wei Song,
Hao Sun,
Changbo Tang
Affiliations
Fenhong Yang
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Yingying Zhu
Engineering Research Center of Magnetic Resonance Analysis Technology, Department of Food Nutrition and Test, Suzhou Vocational University, Suzhou 210005, China
Xiaohan Li
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Fengtao Xiang
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Moru Deng
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Wei Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Wei Song
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Hao Sun
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Changbo Tang
State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, Key Laboratory of Meat Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Lab of Meat Processing and Quality Control, Ministry of Education, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Plant polyphenols with a catechol structure can form covalent adducts with meat proteins, which affects the quality and processing of meat products. However, there is a lack of fast and effective methods of characterizing these adducts and understanding their mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate the covalent interaction between myofibrillar protein (MP) and caffeic acid (CA), a plant polyphenol with a catechol structure, using molecular probe technology. The CA-MP adducts were separated via sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and detected via Western blot and LC-MS/MS analyses. The Western blot analysis revealed that various specific adducts were successfully enriched and identified as bands around 220 kDa, 45 kDa, and two distinct bands between 95 and 130 kDa. Combined with the LC-MS/MS analysis, a total of 51 peptides were identified to be CA-adducted, corresponding to 31 proteins. More than 80% of the adducted peptides carried one adducted site, and the rest carried two adducted sites. The adducted sites were located on cysteine (C/Cys), histidine (H/His), arginine (R/Arg), lysine (K/Lys), proline (P/Pro), and N-terminal (N-Term) residues. Results showed that the covalent interaction of CA and MP was highly selective for the R side chain of amino acids. Moreover, the adducts were more likely to form via C-N bonding than C-S bonding. This study provides new insights into the covalent interaction of plant polyphenols and meat proteins, which has important implications for the rational use of plant polyphenols in the meat processing industry.