Insight into the molecular mechanism of texture improvement of sturgeon fillets treated by low temperature vacuum heating technology using label-free quantitative proteomics.

Label-free quantitative proteomics and weighted protein co-expression network (WPCNA) strategy was used to determine the molecular mechanisms about how did the low temperature vacuum heating (LTVH) improve the texture quality of sturgeon fillets compared to traditional cooking (TC). Results showed that LTVH can reduce the accumulation of lactate and malondialdehyde (MDA) in sturgeon fillets, and decrease the degradation of myofibrillar protein. 594 proteins were identified, 26 and 10 key differentially abundant proteins (KDAPs) were observed in LTVH50-15 vs TC100-15 and LTVH60-15 vs TC100-15 groups, respectively. Most of KDAPs were structural proteins, metabolic enzymes, and oxidoreductase enzymes. They were primarily implicated in the structures of myofibrillar proteins and cytoskeleton, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. In contrast to TC, LTVH can better preserve the structure of myofibrillar proteins and cytoskeleton, reduce lactate accumulation induced by glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and limit the oxidative damage caused by oxidative phosphorylation, thereby improving the texture of sturgeon fillets.