Effect of the Calpain System on Volatile Flavor Compounds in the Beef Longissimus lumborum Muscle

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of calpain system on the formation of volatile flavor compounds in Hanwoo beef. In the first experiment (exp.1), Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle samples were injected with solutions containing 50 mM $CaCl_2$ or 50 mM $ZnCl_2$ and 154 mM NaCl respectively, and aged for 7 d at $4^{\circ}C$. In the second experiment (exp.2), the ground LL muscle was incubated with the aforementioned solutions containing cathepsin inhibitor. The injection with $CaCl_2$ solution greatly elevated the calpain activity and concomitantly, significantly decreased the Warner-Bratzler shear force (p0.05) between the treatment groups. A total of 51 volatile compounds were identified using the solid phase microextraction with gas chromatography (SPME-GC). Results on volatile analyses from the both experiments showed that the injection with calcium ions led to significant increase (p