Effects of Short-Term Transportation and Lairage Time on Meat Quality, CAST, CAPN1, CAPN3, HSPA1A Gene Expression Levels and Myofibrillary Structure of M. longissimus dorsi of Kıvırcık Breed Sheep

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of short term transportation and lairage time on meat quality, myofibrillary structure and calpastatin (CAST), µ-calpain (CAPN1), calpain 3 (CAPN3) and heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A) expression levels of longissimus dorsi of Kıvırcık breed sheep (n=40). Meat quality was evaluated by muscle glycogen amounts, pH, temperature, cooking loss, water holding capacity, shear force, instrumental color, sarcomere length and organoleptic properties. Cellular changes in the muscle during the ageing process was scanned by electron microscopy and CAST, CAPN1, CAPN3, HSPA1A expression levels were measured to reveal the association on meat tenderness. As a result, positive effect of long lairage time groups was observed in the pH, glycogen, SF values and organoleptic evaluation. CAST, CAPN1, CAPN3 expression showed no difference, however, HSPA1A showed significant difference in aging process. In conclusion, genotypic differences, their effect on gene expression and protein level on meat quality should be further investigated.