Evaluation of different software tools for deconvolving differential scanning calorimetry thermograms of salted beef

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the ability and efficiency of different software tools for the deconvolution of DSC thermograms of protein denaturation in salted beef. The salted samples were obtained by immersing beef pieces in NaCl solutions with concentrations of 20, 50, 100 and 330 g NaCl L-1of water for 48 hours at 10 °C. The raw beef were used as control samples. Three software tools were considered: (i) Pyris7, (ii) OriginPro v.8, and (iii) Solver tool from MS-Excel. These computer programs were used for estimating the thermal denaturation temperature of myosin, sarcoplasmic proteins, and actin, as well as the value of denaturation enthalpy of these proteins. Based on the results obtained, we concluded that the model developed and programmed in MS-Excel showed better agreement with the data found in literature than the results obtained with the Pyris and OriginPro tools.