Effect of Pre-Slaughter Transport Stress on Protein S -Nitrosylation Levels of Pork during Postmortem Aging.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of pre-slaughter transport stress on the protein S -nitrosylation levels of pork during 0, 3, and 6 days of aging. Pigs ( N = 16) were randomly selected and divided into two treatments: 3 h transport (transport stress, TS) and 3 h transport followed by 3 h resting (control, CON). Results showed that the TS group at 0 and 3 days presented a higher nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and neuronal NOS (nNOS) expression than the CON group ( P < 0.05). Additionally, nNOS was not only abundantly localized in the membrane but also observed in small amounts in the cytoplasm. The immunoblot of overall S -nitrosylated protein showed that protein S -nitrosylation levels in the TS group were greater than in the CON group during postmortem aging ( P < 0.05). This work can deliver novel insights into the mechanism of meat quality changes in response to pre-slaughter stress.