The differences of muscle proteins between neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) and jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) mantles via physicochemical and proteomic analyses.

Neon flying squid (OB) and jumbo squid (DG) mantles were evaluated to reveal the similarities and differences in their physicochemical features and protein abundances. Microstructural results indicated that the OB mantle exhibited numerous myofibril fragments and disordered microstructures after frozen storage compared with DG tissues. Chemical analysis suggested that freezing resulted in a rapid decrease in myofibrillar protein (MP) content, Ca2+-ATPase activity, and total sulfhydryl content, and promoted the increase in carbonyl content of MPs in both OB and DG. While, DG presented better MP stability than OB muscle after 120 days of frozen storage. Label-free proteomic analysis detected 24 down- and 33 up-regulated differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in OB and DG mantles. Identified DAPs including isocitrate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme initiated a rapid decrease in the MP properties in OB samples. Moreover, DAPs were related to cytoskeleton function, including paramyosin, tropomyosin, and troponin C, which improved the stability of DG in response to freezing-induced changes.