• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.45-48
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• 2012

The imidazole dipeptide carnosine and its methylated anserine analogues are the major histidine containing dipeptides in vertebrate tissue, especially in skeletal muscle, the heart, and the central nervous system. In this study, the carnosine and anserine content in chicken from different parts and of differing ages was determined and their physiological activities were compared. Anserine was more dominant than carnosine in these tissues and both of them significantly decreased with aging in all parts of chicken muscles. Chicken breast muscle showed the highest content of carnosine and anserine than drumstick and wing. Advanced glycated end-product (AGE) formation was inhibited up to 60% by the extract from 20 wk chicken breast and decreased with aging (90 wk). Anti-oxidation activity was also significantly reduced from 61.2% to 52.9% with aging. As results, anti-glycation and anti-oxidation activity of carnosine and anserine extract from chicken muscle increased proportionally to the amount of those peptides in the muscle, while these decreased with the aging process.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.683-687
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• 2010

Previous studies have shown that one of the primary causes of increased iron content in the brain may be the release of excess iron from intracellular iron storage molecules such as ferritin. Free iron generates ROS that cause oxidative cell damage. Carnosine and related compounds such as endogenous histidine dipetides have antioxidant activities. We have investigated the protective effects of carnosine and homocarnosine against oxidative damage of DNA induced by reaction of ferritin with $H_2O_2$. The results show that carnosine and homocarnosine prevented ferritin/$H_2O_2$-mediated DNA strand breakage. These compounds effectively inhibited ferritin/$H_2O_2$-mediated hydroxyl radical generation and decreased the mutagenicity of DNA induced by the ferritin/$H_2O_2$ reaction. Our results suggest that carnosine and related compounds might have antioxidant effects on DNA under pathophysiological conditions leading to degenerative damage such as neurodegenerative disorders.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1763-1772
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of constant high ambient temperatures on meat quality, antioxidant capacity, and carnosine expression in longissimus dorsi muscle of finishing pigs. Castrated 24 male DLY (crossbreeds between Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire sows and Duroc boars) pigs were allocated to one of three treatments: constant ambient temperature at $22^{\circ}C$ and ad libitum feeding (CON, n = 8); constant high ambient temperature at $30^{\circ}C$ and ad libitum feeding (H30, n = 8); and constant ambient temperature at $22^{\circ}C$ and pair-fed with H30 (PF, n = 8). Meat quality, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, antioxidant capacity, carnosine content, and carnosine synthetase (CARNS1) mRNA expression in longissimus dorsi muscle were measured after three weeks. The results revealed that H30 had lower $pH_{24h}$, redness at 45 min, and yellowness at 24 h post-mortem (p<0.05), and higher drip loss at 48 h and lightness at 24 h post-mortem (p<0.01). Constant heat stress disrupted the pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance in longissimus dorsi muscle with higher MDA content (p<0.01) and lower antioxidant capacity (p<0.01). Carnosine content and CARNS1 mRNA expression in longissimus dorsi muscle of H30 pigs were significantly decreased (p<0.01) after three weeks at $30^{\circ}C$. In conclusion, constant high ambient temperatures affect meat quality and antioxidant capacity negatively, and the reduction of muscle carnosine content is one of the probable reasons.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.384-390
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• 2006

To improve the extractability of carnosine and the levels of pro-oxidants such as iron in eel (Anguilla japonica) extracts, we examined the effects of extraction time, temperature, ion exchange chromatography and ultrafiltration (UF). The respective protein and total iron were reduced approximately 55 and 60% at 60$^{\circ}C$, 63 and 70% at 80$^{\circ}C$, 68 and 76% at 100$^{\circ}C$ and 82 and 48% with ion exchange chromatography, respectively, compared to the untreated extract. However, there was no significant difference in the carnosine levels in the eel extracts. Ultrafiltration reduced the protein content of the extract by 52% compared with the untreated extract. UF reduced the protein contents of the samples from 60, 80, and 100% heat treatment and ion exchange chromatography treatment by 27, 50, 46 and 47%, respectively. UF reduced the total iron contents of the identical four treatments by 14, 22, 23, and 43%, respectively, while UF increased the carnosine by 23, 17, 20, and 6%, respectively.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1477-1485
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the meat quality and natural di-peptide (carnosine and anserine) content in the loin and ham cuts of female, Korean Native Black Pigs (KNBP) during cold storage for 10 days. The pH value of the loin and the ham cuts increased with an increase in the number of storage days. The lightness ($L^*$) of the loin cuts did not show any significant difference; however, the lightness of the ham cuts was decreased at storage day 10 (p<0.05). The redness ($a^*$) of the ham was higher than the redness of the loin (p<0.05) during the entire 10-days of storage. The water holding capacity of the loin was decreased from 78.5% to 67.9% during storage (p<0.05). The total number of microorganisms and coliforms was increased in both the loin and the ham during storage, and the initial total microbial contamination was higher in the ham cut (5.16 log CFU/g) than it was in the loin cut (4.87 log CFU/g). The carnosine content of the loin and the ham was in the range of 1.12-1.35 mg/ml and no significant difference was found between those two pork cuts. The anserine content of the ham cut was higher than it was in the loin cut until storage day 3. The ratio of carnosine and anserine increased with an increase in the number of storage days and it ranged from 27.6-59.7 for the loin cut and from 20.1-51.2 for the ham cut. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity of the loin and the ham cuts significantly decreased as the number of storage days increased. For both types of KNBP cuts, lipid oxidation and volatile basic nitrogen significantly increased after storage day 5. These results found that natural antioxidants carnosine and anserine decreased as the number of storage days increased, and anserine decreased more rapidly than carnosine (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.946-951
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• 2010

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of blood meal (BM) as a source of histidine, and magnesium oxide (MgO) as a catalyst of carnosine synthetase, on carnosine (L-Car) content in the chicken breast muscle (CBM), laying performance, and egg quality of spent old hens. Four hundred eighty laying hens (Hy-Line$^{(R)}$ Brown), 95wk old, were allotted randomly into five replicates of six dietary treatments: T1; 100% basal diet, T2; 100% basal diet+MgO, T3; 97.5% basal diet+2.5% BM, T4; 97.5% basal diet+2.5% BM+MgO, T5; 95% basal diet+5% BM, T6; 95% basal diet+5% BM+MgO. Magnesium oxide was added at 0.3% of diets. The layers were fed experimental diets for 5wk. There were no significant differences in the weekly L-Car content in CBM among all treatments during the total experimental period, but some of the contrast comparisions showed higher L-Car in CBM of T6. The L-Car contents linearly decreased (p<0.01 or p<0.05) as the layers got older except in T4 (p>0.05). There were significant differences in egg weight (p<0.01) and soft and broken egg ratio (p<0.05). The control (T1) was highest in egg weight and T6 was lowest in soft and broken egg ratio. Among the parameters of egg quality, there were significant differences in eggshell strength (p<0.01) and egg yolk color (p<0.05). Magnesium oxide supplementation increased the eggshell strength and BM tended to decrease egg yolk color. Eggshell color, eggshell thickness, and Haugh unit were not influenced by BM and MgO. In conclusion, BM and MgO did not significantly influence the L-Car in CBM of spent layers. The L-Car content rapidly decreased as the layers became senescent. Eggshell strength was increased by MgO supplementation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.684-693
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• 2017

We investigated methods for extracting histidine-containing low-molecular-weight (LMW) peptides such as anserine, carnosine and histidine from the edible meat of tuna byproducts. Extracts were treated by several methods including heat treatment ($80^{\circ}C$, 10 min), DOWEX ion exchange (IEC), ultrafiltration (UF), and carboxymethyl (CM)-cellulose column chromatography (IEC+CMC); then the levels of protein, total iron, histidine, carnosine, and anserine were measured. Extracts treated with IEC+CMC using CM-cellulose were analyzed for total iron, protein, histidine, and anserine content, which were $6.27{\pm}0.26mg/mL$, $5.20{\pm}0.21{\mu}g/mL$, 0.80 mg/mL, 0.208 mg/mL, and 4.40 mg/mL, respectively, in yellowfin tuna; and $9.05{\pm}0.82mg/mL$, $4.06{\pm}0.20{\mu}g/mL$, 1.62 mg/mL, 0.012 mg/mL, and 7.28 mg/mL in bigeye tuna. By comparison in IEC-UF treated extracts, protein, total iron, and histidine content decreased by 43%, 73%, and 27% in yellowfin and 0.4%, 54%, and 23% in bigeye tuna, wheres carnosine and anserine content increased by 22% and 17%, respectively. Freeze-dried (FD) extracts exhibited similar trends as non-dried extracts, i.e., dipeptide content increased with purification steps, whereas pro-oxidant (total iron and protein) content decreased. IEC+CMC treated FD extracts had the highest anserine, content, and the greatest reductuion in pro-oxidants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.1817-1823
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• 2020

Objective: The increasing consumer awareness of food, which can provide health benefits and potentially aid disease prevention, has become the driving force of the functional food market. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chicken genotype on the macronutrient content, bioactive peptide content, and antioxidant capacity within different breast meat. Methods: In this experiment, three genotypes of chicken, Thai indigenous, black-boned, and broiler (control), were reared with commercial feed under the same conditions. Thirty chickens were slaughtered at typical market age and the breasts were separated from the carcass to determine macronutrient content using the AOAC method. The antioxidant capacities of the chicken breasts were evaluated by in vitro antioxidant assays and the protein pattern was investigated using gel electrophoresis. Carnosine and anserine, which have antioxidant properties in animal tissue, were determined using high performance liquid chromatography. Results: The results showed that breast meat from Thai indigenous chickens had a greater macronutrient content and higher antioxidant capacity compared with the other genotypes (p<0.05). The protein pattern was similar between genotypes, however Thai indigenous chickens had the greatest myosin and actin content (p<0.05). In addition, carnosine and anserine values were greatest in the black-boned and Thai indigenous chickens compared with the broiler genotype (p<0.05). Conclusion: Thai indigenous chicken breast meat may be classified as a functional food as it has good nutritional value and is rich in antioxidant peptides.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1834-1847
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• 2024

Objective: The effects of carnosine synthesis on the structural and microstructural determinants of meat quality have not been studied to date. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementation with carnosine synthesis precursors on the characteristics and microstructure of breast muscle fibers in slow-growing Korat chickens (KR). Methods: Slow-growing KR were fed a non-supplemented commercial diet (control group) or a commercial diet supplemented with 1.0% β-alanine, 0.5% L-histidine, or a combination of both 1.0% β-alanine and 0.5% L-histidine. At 10 weeks, KR were slaughtered, and the breast muscle was collected. Samples were fixed and extracted to study the microstructure, fat level, and porosity of the meat using X-ray and scanning electron microscopy, and real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze the expression of genes related to myofiber differentiation. Results: L-histidine supplementation significantly altered myofiber diameter and muscle fiber density and compactness by regulating muscle fiber-type differentiation via carnosine synthase (CARNS1) and myocyte enhancer factor 2C expression, as well as myogenic differentiation antigen and myogenic regulatory factor 5 expression. While excess L-histidine potentially stimulated CARNS1 to modify muscle fiber arrangement and tenderness in breast meat, dietary β-alanine supplementation alone or in combination with L-histidine supplementation induced a relatively less remarkable but not significant (p<0.05) effect on the breast meat characteristics studied. Conclusion: Interestingly, the combination of β-alanine and L-histidine supplementation had no effect on meat microstructure, meat porosity, and fat content in comparison with the control group. Thus, this combination had the best selectivity for improving meat quality. However, further studies are required to clarify the effects of carnosine levels on meat processing.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.478-488
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• 1999

The contents of histidine dipeptides, a metabolic products of muscle protein, were investigated to compare muscle composition among the 9 domestic animals including cattle. In major domestic animals, analyzed the effects of age, part and sex of the animals on their muscle composition. Large amounts of carnosine($68.63{\pm}17.41{\mu}mol/g$) were detected in cattle and it was higher than other animals. Whereas the content of anserine showed high level in order of turkey, chickens and duck. The ratio of carnosine and anserine(C/A ratio) was different depending on the animal species. Statistical data indicated that difference among species was significant(p < 0.05). The contents of histidine dipeptides in heated muscle by boiling for 40 minutes at $110^{\circ}C$ was similar to thoes of raw muscle. C/A ratio in heated muscle was not different from that of raw muscle, indicating that no change has been made after heating process. The contents of carnosine and anserine were different according to the parts of their muscle. Especially chuck of the mammalian showed extremely low level of histidine dipeptides compared with other parts, while C/A ratio maintained certain level regardless of age, part, sex. Therefore, based on the content of histidine dipeptides, could be found the difference of muscle composition among the species. Also C/A ratio of horse, pig, cattle, duck, sheep and turkey were characteristic respectively.