Materials and Methods: Five treatment groups were established as follows: Group 1 (C), which was given distilled water; Group 2 (T0), which was administered with LA (10 mg/kg body weight [BW]); and Groups 3 (T1), 4 (T2), and 5 (T3), which were given LA (10 mg/kg BW) plus graded concentrations of 30, 60, and 120 mg/kg BW of EBN, respectively. Rats were euthanized at week 5 to collect blood for superoxide dismutase (SOD) assay, and uterus for histomorphological study and expression analyses of epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA).
Results: Results revealed that LA causes destruction of uterine lining cells and necrosis of uterine glands of exposed rats without EBN supplement while the degree of damage decreased among EBN treated groups; T3 showed the highest ameliorating effect against LA toxicity, as well as an increased number of uterine glands. Increased levels of SOD were also achieved in EBN supplemented groups than the controls. Results of immunohistochemistry showed significantly higher expressions of EGF, VEGF, and PCNA levels (p<0.05) in T3 compared to other treatments. EBN maintained upregulation of antioxidant - reactive oxygen species balance.
Conclusion: The findings showed that EBN could ameliorate the detrimental effects of LA toxicity on the uterus possibly by enhancing enzymatic antioxidant (SOD) activity as well as expressions of EGF, VEGF, and PCNA with cell proliferation roles.
RESULTS: The recovery yield for EBNhclean and EBNhcoP were 89.09 ± 0.01% and 47.64 ± 0.26%, respectively, indicating nearly 50% of glycopeptide can be recovered from the waste material. Meanwhile, N-acetylneuraminic acid, a major acid sugar in EBN glycoproteins, of EBNhcoP increased by 229% from 58.6 ± 3.9 to 192.9 ± 3.1 g kg-1 , indicating the enzymatic hydrolysis removed impurities and thus enhanced the N-acetylneuraminic acid content. Total soluble protein was more than 330 g kg-1 for all the samples. Colour parameter showed that hydrolysate samples have greater L* (lightness) values. Chroma result indicates the intensity of all the samples were low (
METHODS: The degree of marbling was determined by using an established combined camera-image analysis technique while instrumental texture determination was carried out by using Warner-Bratzler shear force analysis. Sensory evaluation of the beef steaks was performed following a quantitative descriptive analysis incorporating 10 trained consumer panelists.
RESULTS: Wagyu was found to possess the highest (p<0.05) percentage of IMF at 33.90% and the lowest shear force (raw = 5.61 N/mm2; cooked = 14.72 N/mm2) followed by Angus (20.87%), Brahman (12.17%), and KK (p<0.05, 6.86%). The difference in sensory properties of the four steaks was evident, with Wagyu appearing to be highly correlated with most sensory attributes measured namely sustained buttery, tooth-packing, chewiness, juiciness, tenderness, mouthfeel, oiliness, and overall acceptability. The Malaysian local beef, KK was found to be less acceptable (p<0.05), although most of its sensory attributes were found similar (p>0.05) in appearance, aroma, texture, juiciness, and flavour to the cooked steak from Angus and Brahman.
CONCLUSION: This present study demonstrated the role of IMF in determining the quality and sensory acceptance of beef from different cattle breeds. These data have provided new information and further understanding on the physical and sensory quality of Malaysian local beef.