Proteomic technologies have proven very effective for detection in meat products of biochemical changes, such as changes in heat resistant and species-specific proteins that could be relevant bio-markers.

In the work presented in this report (for the period of 2013–2016), several tissue-specific proteins were detected in the samples of meat and specially developed meat products using proteomic technologies and identified as individual biomarkers in meat product control.

The existence of a large number of different proteins resulted in the need to create information arrays — databases (or banks). Currently, there are a number of general and specialized databases that are available online to anyone interested. When studying protein proteomic profiles, many scientists stop at the stage of two-dimensional electrophoregrams sometimes even without ideas about the future prospects of using modern instruments and bioinformation resources to confirm or refute their hypotheses, and sometimes just to identify. This overview shows the chain of actions that allows going from profiling proteins in the gel to a specific interpretation of the results. Studies in this field have enabled formulating and significantly expanding the approaches to the identification and quantification of protein markers of quality, functionality and safety of meat raw material (detection of falsification) in the finished meat products. Based on the obtained data, the information was systematized using bioinformatics techniques with creation of the unique Atlas «Proteomic profiles of farm animal meat proteins.»

The aim of proteomics is to identify all proteins, their biological activity, post-translational modifications and interactions in a cell, and to identify (quantify?) changes in «proteome» in response to altered biological conditions. A typical proteomics work flow consists of protein extraction, separation, protein or peptide identification and data analysis. Mass spectrometry is the most common method used to detect proteins or peptides in proteomics. This strategy has many applications, including research in meat science, but it is limited by huge biochemical heterogeneity of the proteins and an inability to detect accurately low-abundance proteins. The aim of the present review is to summarize the current knowledge and identify future potential application of proteomics in meat science and technology.

Differentiation between adulteration and accidental meat raw material contamination in meat industry enterprises that carry out the combined processing of slaughtering products from farm animals and poultry is necessary to establish a threshold of technically non-removable impurities. Justification of the thresholds, e.g. for chicken meat, requires determination of the target analytical matrix, which content in meat raw material is stable. In the Russian certified methods, the species-specific DNA matrix for chickens is a multi-copy gene of cytochrome B in mitochondrial DNA. Taking into consideration that mitochondrial DNA copy number can depend on a muscle fiber type, animal age, and other factors, the effectiveness of using multi-copy mitochondrial genes for quantifying the poultry content in meat products was justified in this study. Analysis of the samples from the pectoral and hip muscles of three chicken carcasses and one duck carcass obtained from different manufacturers showed that the poultry pectoral and hip muscles contained approximately equal amounts of mitochondrial DNA, which allows its use as a matrix to justify the level of technically non-removable chicken impurities in finished meat products.

In the course of investigations, the structural changes in proteins were established, which were associated with the preliminary treatment of meat ingredients, a pH level of the system and parameters of thermal treatment.

The pasteurization regimes allowed retaining a protein nitrogen proportion up to 94% by the end of canned food storage duration.
Upon sterilization, the losses in protein nitrogen were two times higher. A negative effect of more acidic sauce on preservation of the protein nitrogen fraction in canned foods was established.

An accumulation of the peptide nitrogen fraction in the canned foods in tomato sauce aſter pasteurization was two times more intensive. In the sterilized canned foods, the processes of accumulation of the low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds were more intensive, which suggests a depth of destruction of the protein and peptide nitrogen fraction. It was shown that an accumulation of amino-ammonia nitrogen during canned food storage was on average 12.4% irrespective of the pH value in the used sauces and the type of thermal treatment.

A shiſt in the pH value of the canned foods toward the acid side upon pasteurization was noticed. With that, a degree of the shiſt in the canned foods in tomato sauce was 2.5 times higher than the pH value of the canned foods in sour cream sauce. When sterilizing canned foods, another dynamics of the pH values was observed: a pH value declined by 0.39 units in the canned foods in tomato sauce and grew by 0.22 units in the canned foods in sour cream sauce. During storage, the tendency of more intense pH decline was revealed for the canned foods in tomato sauce aſter pasteurization compared to the canned foods aſter sterilization. Another character of the pH value dynamics was found in the canned foods in sour cream sauce: an insignificant increase (by 0.7%) of the pH value in the pasteurized canned foods and a significant decrease (by 8.4%) in the sterilized canned foods were observed by the end of storage.

The world trends in table salt reduction in meat products contemplate the use of different methods for preservation of taste and consistency in finished products as well as shelf life prolongation.
There are several approaches to a sodium chloride reduction in meat products. The paper presents a review of the foreign studies that give evidence of the possibility to maintain quality of traditional meat products produced with the reduced salt content. The studies in the field of salty taste perception established that a decrease in a salt crystal size to 20 µm enabled reducing an amount of added table salt due to an increase in the salty taste intensity in food products. Investigation of the compatibility of different taste directions is also interesting as one of the approaches to a sodium chloride reduction in food products. The use of water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) double emulsions allows controlling a release of encapsulated ingredients (salt), which enables enhancement of salty taste. The other alternative method of technological processing of meat raw material for reducing salt in meat products is the use of high pressure processing. This method has several advantages and allows not only an increase in the salty taste intensity, but also formation of a stable emulsion, an increase in water binding capacity of minced meat and extension of shelf-life.

This article presents the results of studying the effect of homogeneous model meat systems produced using enzyme preparation containing fungal protease and microbiological starter culture of Lactobacillus plantarum on the allergic reactions within specific immunity in vivo. According to the results, it is established that experimental products have no negative effect on the clinical parameters of laboratory animals. During the experiment, with the introduction of experimental products into diet, the dynamics of body weight changes in all groups of animals was positive. At the end of the experiment, there were smaller increase in the weight of rats and lower values of weight gain (Group 1 — 14.0 %, Group 2 — 15.9 %, Group 3 — 20.2 %). This is possibly due to the adaptation processes occurring in response to introduction of meat systems into the diet, which confirms the leveling of the daily weight gain of experimental and intact animals since the 16th day of the experiment. According to the results of clinical blood analysis of the animals consuming experimental products, an increase is detected in leukocytes and lymphocytes by up to 18 %; in granulocytes by up to 35 %; and in monocytes by up to 8 %; in hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration by more than 3 %; in red cell distribution width and mean corpuscular volume by up to 2 %, in comparison with intact animals. The correlation of these data with ELISA parameters for serum of experimental animals (histamine and immunoglobulin E) allowed to suggest the expression of reaginic antibodies and interaction on the surface of basophils and mast cells, which led to the degranulation and release (increase) of histamine, as a vasoactive factor, by 40 % compared with intact animals.

The overall conclusion of the studies is that experimental model meat systems may trigger the activation of specific immune responses in laboratory animals. This is possibly due to protease-mediated formation of greater amount of indigestible polypeptides and peptides that invoke local adaptation responses.

Competitive production management is impossible without comprehensive hazard monitoring and critical parameters control at every stage of food production from raw material and auxiliary materials delivery to ready product realization, which is difficult without modern IT-support. The HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) approach to product safety differs from ready product testing for compliance with NaTD requirements (Normative and Technical Documentation) and emphasizes the importance of the process approach to monitoring at every stage of food production. Critical control points (CCP) identification is a stage, where the presence of a risk of manufacturing products that are unsafe for human health is recognized and it is possible to take action to its elimination, prevention or reduction to an acceptable level. The use of soſtware package significantly increases the enterprise HACCP system efficiency. The article describes methodological bases for IT-approach to the CCP identification in the trophological meat production chain from field to fork. The algorithmic support and soſtware for the «Decision tree», which allows detecting existing hazards, identifying risks, determining CCPs and describing them, has been developed.

The present paper examines an effect of starter culture incorporation into the technology of air-dried beef products on a degree of protein hydration and solubility. The processes of the protein macromolecule hydrolysis on dipeptides, polypeptides and free amino acids are described. It was shown air-dried beef products that contain starter cultures had the high biological value. It was noticed that microorganisms being constituents of starter cultures had the high proteolytic activity and accelerated the biochemical transformation of meat proteins upon curing, which resulted in higher rates of biochemical processes. The molecular weight distribution of protein fractions was determined. The derivatives of meat proteins, peptides, which can have a physiological effect on the body, are the most promising for studying. This study presents an assessment of a protein complex of air-dried beef products made according to different technologies of air drying and shows that the majority of protein spectra in the air-dried beef products with starter cultures are in the zones of proteins with potential hypotensive properties (medium and light zones with molecular weights of 50 kDa — 70 kDa and 5 kDa — 20 kDa, respectively). It is shown that when using the traditional technology of air drying, an accumulation of the protein spectra in meat was observed in the zone of heavy fractions with a molecular weight of 85 кDа — 100 кDа, the medium and light fractions were poorly pronounced. The highest rate of hydrolysis of the air-dried meat products with starter cultures by the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract makes it possible to predict in a greater degree a level of protein utilization by the human body. It was established that the highest growth indicators were in the laboratory animals, which diet was supplemented with air-dried products that contained starter cultures. A live weight gain over a 30 day period of feeding was 14.37 g and 12.82 g, respectively, in the experimental groups compared to the control groups.