Label-free proteomics was applied to understand the color and color stability development of dark cutting beef (DC). The color traits of DC (pH = 6.86) and normal beef (pH = 5.49) were determined during 7 days of display. DC had a lower redness and greater color stability, which was attributed to its higher deoxy-myoglobin content, greater oxygen consumption, as well as higher metmyoglobin reducing activity and lower lipid oxidation. A total of 28 differentially expressed mitochondrial proteins (fold change >1.8) between the two groups were identified, with 21 proteins overexpressed in DC mainly involved in oxidative phosphorylation, generation of reducing equivalent, TCA cycle and chaperones. These enhance the level of mitochondrial respiration, the stability of reducing MetMb and myoglobin and mitochondria function, leading to color characteristics of DC. Moreover, Glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase was for the first time reported to be significantly associated with color parameters and its direct relationship with meat color is worthy investigation.

应用无标签蛋白质组学来了解暗切牛肉（DC）的颜色和颜色稳定性发展。在展示的7天中确定了DC（pH = 6.86）和普通牛肉（pH = 5.49）的颜色特征。DC具有较低的红色和较高的颜色稳定性，这归因于其较高的脱氧肌红蛋白含量，较高的耗氧量以及较高的肌红蛋白还原活性和较低的脂质氧化作用。鉴定出两组之间共有28种差异表达的线粒体蛋白（倍数变化> 1.8），其中21种在DC中过表达的蛋白主要参与氧化磷酸化，还原当量的产生，TCA循环和分子伴侣。这些可以增强线粒体呼吸水平，降低MetMb和肌红蛋白的稳定性以及线粒体功能，导致DC的色彩特征。此外，首次报道谷氨酰-CoA脱氢酶与颜色参数显着相关，其与肉色的直接关系值得研究。