Sufficient firmness is essential for consumer appreciation and the suitability for processing of fish fillets. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of functional amino acids (AA) on fillet texture and muscle development of Atlantic salmon.Triplicate net pens of 105 g salmon were fed a standard diet, or the same diet with added 15 g/kg arginine or 15 g/kg glutamate during a 5-month rearing period. The growth rate and FCR (0.91-0.92) showed no significant dietary effects (body weight 864-887 g). Glutamate supplementation resulted in delayed postmortem glycogen degradation (pH drop) and rigour development, along with improved fillet firmness and intercellular myofibre integrity. An in vitro study with salmon myosatellite cells showed that exogenous glutamine or arginine increased the expression of muscle growth markers (myog, tnnl2, myl) at both 8 and 16°C culture temperature. The expression of a marker for proteolysis (ctsb), myl and myog were highest for the glutamine treatment at 16°C. Significant interaction between exogenous AA and temperature indicated elevated AA requirement when growth is accelerated. It is concluded that AA from the glutamate family are vital for fillet firmness. The dispensable glutamine and glutamate appear more critical compared to arginine, particularly during highperformance periods.
K E Y W O R D Samino acids, Atlantic salmon, Fillet quality, gene expression, muscle
| INTRODUCTIONTexture perception is an important factor in consumer sensory appreciation of Atlantic salmon fillets (Hyldig & Nielsen, 2001) and is also important for the suitability for processing (Mitchie, 2012). Muscle fibre arrangement, density and integrity are among antemortem factors that influence fillet texture (Fauconneau et al., 1993;Hatae, Yoshimatsu, & Matsumoto, 1984;Hurling, Rodell, & Hunt, 1996;Kiessling, Stien, Torslett, Suontarna, & Slinde, 2006;Mørkøre, Ruohonen, & Kiessling, 2009;Taylor, Fjaera, & Skjervold, 2002;Torgersen et al., 2014) and metabolic properties (Ingebrigtsen et al., 2014;Larsson et al., 2012Larsson et al., , 2014Taylor et al., 2002).It has been assumed that animals and humans can synthesize sufficient amounts of dispensable amino acids. Growing evidence suggests that certain traditionally defined dispensable amino acids (e.g., glutamine and glutamate) play important roles in multiple signalling pathways. Hence, amino acids (AA), defined as regulators of key metabolic pathways, are now referred to as functional AA, including glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln) and arginine (Arg) that belong to the glutamate family (Wu, 2010). A deficiency of functional AA (either indispensable or dispensable) impairs not only protein synthesis, but also wholebody homoeostasis. Notably, supplementing Glu or Arg to a conventional diet (traditionally considered to provide adequate amounts of these AA) can improve growth potential in young land-living animals | 15 ØSTBYE ET al. (Wu, 2009) and salmon (Oehme et al., 2010). Furthermore, a recent study showed stimulated aerobic met...