Interaction and action mechanism of quercetin and myofibrillar protein and its effects on the quality of cured meat

Interaction and action mechanism of quercetin and myofibrillar protein (MP) were investigated, while the effects of quercetin on the quality of meat were further observed. Quercetin exhibited an obvious capacity to affect the properties of cured meat including texture, color, cooking loss, moisture, and volatile components. Meanwhile, quercetin showed a remarkable effect on the carbonyl, sulfhydryl, dimer tyrosine, gel property, surface hydrophobicity, and emulsibility of MP. By fluorescence spectroscopy, the tertiary structure of MP showed an obvious change with quercetin. Furthermore, the circular dichroism spectrum result suggested that quercetin could promote the structure transformation of MP from α-helix to β-sheet and random coil. According to the molecular docking results, quercetin could interact with MP by hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonds, thereby affecting the quality of cured meat. All results suggested that quercetin had the potential to improve the quality of meat in the food industry. Novelty impact statement Quercetin showed the capacity to inhibit the oxidation of myofibrillar protein (MP) due to its tightly interaction with MP by hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonds. Meanwhile, quercetin could improve the texture, cooking loss, moisture, and volatile components of cured meat. All results suggested that quercetin had the potential to improve the quality of meat in food industry.