• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.263-269
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• 2006

To evaluate the potentiality of industrial use of cysteine proteinase inhibitor (cystatin) of tilapia egg and serum stability of the tilapia cystatin on low temperature storage and heat treatment was studied. When the eggs were stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 3 days the cystatin activity was not changed much, while the supernatant of egg homogenate lost its cystatin activity significantly, remaining only about 65% of initial activity. When the eggs and serum were subjected to repeated freeze at $-20^{\circ}C$ and thaw at room temperature once a day, the egg cystatin was decreased after 5 cycles of freeze and thaw. However the serum cystatin was not changed by the 5 times repetition of freeze and thaw. More than 80% of egg cystatin activity was remained when the egg was heated at $35^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, but less than 10% was remained when heated at $50^{\circ}C$. On the other hand, the serum cystatin was very resistant to heat, remaining about 74% after heating at as high as $80^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. In summary, the egg cystatin was more stable when stored as intact form of egg rather than as supernatant of homogenate when stored at refrigeration. Egg cystatin was relatively stable against repeated freeze-thaw, and serum was found to be more stable in cysteine proteinase inhibitory activity than egg. Egg cystatin was not very resistant to heat treatment, while serum cystatin was quite resistant to high temperature heat treatment. These results suggest that tilapia egg and serum, especially the serum, would be a useful source for cysteine proteinase inhibitor in surimi production.