STUDY ON THE BIOLOGICAL VALUE OF PROTEINS WITH HYPOTENSIVE PROPERTIES FROM AIR-DRIED BEEF

The present paper examines an effect of starter culture incorporation into the technology of air-dried beef products on a degree of protein hydration and solubility. The processes of the protein macromolecule hydrolysis on dipeptides, polypeptides and free amino acids are described. It was shown air-dried beef products that contain starter cultures had the high biological value. It was noticed that microorganisms being constituents of starter cultures had the high proteolytic activity and accelerated the biochemical transformation of meat proteins upon curing, which resulted in higher rates of biochemical processes. The molecular weight distribution of protein fractions was determined. The derivatives of meat proteins, peptides, which can have a physiological effect on the body, are the most promising for studying. This study presents an assessment of a protein complex of air-dried beef products made according to different technologies of air drying and shows that the majority of protein spectra in the air-dried beef products with starter cultures are in the zones of proteins with potential hypotensive properties (medium and light zones with molecular weights of 50 kDa — 70 kDa and 5 kDa — 20 kDa, respectively). It is shown that when using the traditional technology of air drying, an accumulation of the protein spectra in meat was observed in the zone of heavy fractions with a molecular weight of 85 кDа — 100 кDа, the medium and light fractions were poorly pronounced. The highest rate of hydrolysis of the air-dried meat products with starter cultures by the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract makes it possible to predict in a greater degree a level of protein utilization by the human body. It was established that the highest growth indicators were in the laboratory animals, which diet was supplemented with air-dried products that contained starter cultures. A live weight gain over a 30 day period of feeding was 14.37 g and 12.82 g, respectively, in the experimental groups compared to the control groups.