| The hairtail (Trichiurus haumela) is rich in protein and high in nutrition. In this study, the effects of chilling storage on the muscle protein of hairtail were studied by measuring a series of physical and chemical indicators that characterize changes in the fish quality, including TCA-soluble peptides, sulfhydryl group content, surface hydrophobicity, Ca2+-ATPase activity, and Mg2+-ATPase activity, as well as SDS-PAGE patterns of total soluble proteins, water-soluble proteins, low-salt-soluble proteins, and high-salt-soluble proteins. The effects of 0℃ and 4℃ chilling on the fish muscle protein were observed after 15 days of storage, and the oxidation, denaturation, and degradation of the fish protein under the two storage temperatures were compared. The results showed that after 0℃ and 4℃ storage for 15 days, the TCA-soluble peptides increased from 1.446 μmol/g to 6.717 μmol/g and 7.595 μmol/g, respectively. The Ca2+-ATPase activities were lower than the initial values, decreasing from 0.99 U/mg prot to 0.092 U/mg prot and 0.134 U/mg prot, respectively. The Mg2+-ATPase activities also decreased from 0.76 U/mg prot to 0.199 U/mg prot and 0.125 U/mg prot, respectively. In addition, the sulfhydryl group content decreased from 38.15 μmol/g MP to 35.82 μmol/g MP and 30.36 μmol/g MP, respectively. The surface hydrophobicity first increased and then decreased, but the values were higher than those of the fresh samples. The changes in the values of this series of physical and chemical indicators indicated that the refrigerating conditions of 0℃ and 4℃ were not conducive to the long-term storage of the hairtail. Prolonged storage time destroyed the freshness and quality of the hairtail owing to protein oxidation, which caused a bad odor and rendered the fish inedible. From the microstructure perspective, there were almost no changes in the total soluble proteins and water-soluble proteins. However, the high-salt-soluble proteins degraded under storage, indicating that the myofibrillar protein had degraded gradually, decreasing the fish quality. Moreover, the rate of myofibrillar protein degradation and corruption of the fish was slower at 0℃ than at 4℃ on the same day during storage. |
