Publications by authors named "Akihiro Okitani"

Denaturation of actin and myosin in myofibrils induced by heating at 50°C was investigated to reveal the mechanism of irreversible liberation of actin from myofibrils on heating at lower temperatures than conventional cooking. Denaturation of these proteins was determined by Mg -ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) and Ca -ATPase activities. When minced meat was heated for 20 min, actin was liberated accompanying denaturation of 80% of actin and 50% of myosin.

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The objective of this study is to identify the properties and responsible compounds for the aromatic roast odor (retort beef aroma) that commonly occurs in canned beef products and could contribute to their palatability. The optimal temperature for generating retort beef aroma was 121°C. An untrained panel evaluated both uncured corned beef and canned yamato-ni beef and found that they had an aroma that was significantly (P < 0.

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The object of the present study was to reveal the action of inosine-5'-monophosphate (IMP) toward myofibrils in postmortem muscles. IMP solubilized isolated actomyosin within a narrow range of KCl concentration, 0.19-0.

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Water-holding capacity (WHC) of heat-induced pork gels was examined. The heat-induced gels were obtained from meat homogenates prepared by adding nine volumes of 0.3-0.

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We examined the mode of IMP and pyrophosphate enhancement of myosin and actin extraction from porcine meat. Extractabilities were determined after homogenates, prepared by adding 9 volumes of 0.3, 0.

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We examined the effects of nucleoside monophosphates on the dissociation of actomyosin into myosin and actin. GMP was effective only among GMP, CMP, dTMP, and UMP. Hence we concluded that purine-based nucleoside monophosphates such as GMP, AMP, and IMP are effective, incorporating this with our previous results (Okitani A et al.

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This study investigated whether actin liberation from myofibrils occurs during the heating of various muscles, as well as squid mantle muscle at temperatures, such as 60°C, employed for vacuum cooking of meats. Actin liberation was demonstrated in scallop striated adductor muscle, but not in beef, pork, or chicken, using the detection method previously employed with squid muscle, in which liberated actin was detected with SDS-PAGE, in the supernatant obtained by centrifugation of the homogenate of heated muscle in 0.2M KCl at a neutral pH.

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We investigated to determine why heating of squid muscle at 60 degrees C induced the liberation of actin from myofibrils. When a mixture of a myofibrillar fraction and a low-molecular sarcoplasmic fraction prepared from squid muscle was heated at 60 degrees C, actin liberation occurred. When a myofibrillar fraction was heated with ATP, AMP, or IMP, actin liberation occurred.

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Two cysteine proteinase inhibitors, CPI-L and CPI-H, were purified from rabbit skeletal muscle by means of successive extraction with a neutral buffer solution, precipitation at pH 3.7, acetone fractionation and gel permeation on Sephadex G-75 and affinity chromatography on carboxymethyl-papain-Sepharose. The molecular mass of CPI-L was 13 kDa on gel permeation chromatography and SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions and was 15 kDa on SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions.

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Rabbit muscle cathepsin H classified as an aminoendopeptidase was purified and its properties were investigated to clarify its contribution to the proteolysis of postmortem muscle. The purification was performed by ammonium sulfate fractionation and successive chromatographies on Sephadex G-75, phosphocelluose, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-100. The purified enzyme gave a single protein band on SDS-PAGE.

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