A Review of the Impact of Heat Shock Proteins on the Tenderness of Meat Products
HE Hongjing, LIU Dengyong, ZHANG Muhan, WANG Daoying
1. School of Food Science and Engineering, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121013, China; 2. Institute of Agricultural Product Processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Abstract：Tenderness is one of the most important quality indexes of meat products. Meat tenderness is affected by many pre-and post-slaughter factors. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are highly conserved proteins produced by the body in response to stress. They are classified into many types and have various biological functions such as acting as molecular chaperones. Recent studies have shown that HSPs can regulate meat tenderness during postmortem aging by inhibiting myofibrillar protein degradation, modulating cell apoptosis and affecting protease activity. In this paper, the correlation between HSPs and meat tenderness is reviewed, aiming to provide a reference for further studies to understand the mechanism behind the influence of HSPs on meat tenderness, improve meat quality and develop new processing technologies.
何泓静，刘登勇，张牧焓，王道营. 肉制品中热休克蛋白及其对肉嫩度的影响研究进展[J]. 肉类研究, 2026, 40(3): 69-75.
HE Hongjing, LIU Dengyong, ZHANG Muhan, WANG Daoying. A Review of the Impact of Heat Shock Proteins on the Tenderness of Meat Products. Meat Research, 2026, 40(3): 69-75.
2026, Vol. 40 
