The degree of non-reducible MHC cross-links for all treatments
was evaluated by the pixel intensity of MHC between samples after
reduction with DTT (Fig. 3, right panel). The MHC levels after reduction
were significantly higher for meat emulsions added 100 ppm green tea
extract as compared to the control meat emulsion. In contrast, addition
of 500 or 1500 ppmgreen tea extract and TG showed significantly lower
MHC levels after reduction as compared to the control, indicating
that part of the MHC in these meat emulsions was lost due to nonreducible
protein polymerization. Moreover, the control samples
showed a larger difference in pixel intensity between MHC with or
without DTT compared to the rest of the samples, indicating that
relatively more reducible cross-linking was generated in the control
samples as compared to the green tea and TG samples. This also
shows that addition of green tea extract promoted relatively more
non-reducible cross-linking as compared to reducible cross-linking,
especially at high concentrations. In summary, these data demonstrate
that all treatments protected the meat emulsions from formation of
reducible cross-links as compared to the control treatment, and further,
that addition of 100 ppm green tea extract also protected against nonreducible
cross-links.