Analysis of quality-related proteins in golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) fillets with modifi ed atmosphere packaging under superchilling storage

Here, we aimed to study the changes in proteome of golden pompano fillets during post-mortem storage. Tandem mass tags (TMT) -labeled quantitative proteomic strategy was applied to investigate the relationships between protein changes and quality characteristics of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) fillets during superchilling (-3 °C) storage. Scanning electron microscopy was used to show that the muscle histology microstructure of fillets was damaged to varying degrees, and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance was used to indf that the immobilized water and free water in the muscle of fillets changed significantly. Total sulfhydryl content, TCA-soluble peptides and Ca²⁺-ATPase activity also showed that the fillet protein had a deterioration by oxidation and denaturation. The Fresh (FS), MAP, and air packaging (AP) groups were set. Total of 150 proteins were identified as differential abundant proteins (DAPs) in MAP/FS, while 209 DAPs were in AP/FS group. The KEGG pathway analysis indicated that most DAPs were involved in binding proteins and protein turnover. Correlation analysis found that 52 DAPs were correlated with quality traits. Among them, 8 highly correlated DAPs are expected to be used as potential quality markers for protein oxidation and water-holding capacity. These results provide a further understanding of the muscle deterioration mechanism of packaging golden pompano fillets during superchilling.