Vol. 12, Special Issue 12 (2023)

Author(s):
A Jangir, AK Biswas, A Arsalan, A Pal, S Swami, F Rahman, RK Agrawal, S Chand, SK Mendiratta, S Talukder and RJ Jaywant

Abstract:
The goal of the current study was to screen candidate biomarker(s) to develop an enzymatic assay for rapid, easy, and reliable detection of fresh (chilled) and frozen-thawed buffalo meat in the supply chain. The method is based on analyzing and selecting a biomarker enzyme from a pool of cytosolic enzymes. The enzymes were chosen based on differences in the enzyme activity of different meat cuts (loin and shoulder) at different temperatures (-10, -20, and -40 °C) for different (45) days. Results showed that SOD and Catalase displayed significant visual as well as spectrometric differences (approx. four times) and proved tremendous potential as biomarkers since their activity was consistent in fresh as well as frozen-thawed meat cut stored samples as compared to other enzymes studied. The results showed that all antioxidant enzyme activities varied (p<0.05) until the end of the process. Loin meat cuts showed more consistent results than shoulder meat cuts due to muscle complexity causing muscle damage during post-mortem. The studies proved that the method developed targeting these two enzymes as biomarkers could be helpful for potential application in the differentiation of chilled or defrosted buffalo meat.