Proteolytic Degradation of Threadfin‐Bream Meat Gel

The textural degradation of threadfin‐bream meat gel accompanying the breakdown of the myosin heavy chain was caused not by a heat‐stable alkaline proteinase (HAP) but by a newly found gel degradation‐inducing factor (GIF). GIF as well as HAP was recovered in the sarcoplasmic fraction, but GIF was separated from HAP by gel filtration on Ultrogel AcA 34. This factor showed strong proteolytic activity against the myosin heavy chain at pH 7.0 in the presence of 2.5% NaCl.