Effect of Temperature on the Buffering Capacities of Histidine-Related Compounds and Fish Skeletal Muscle

Abstract

Effects of temperature were examined on the buffering capacities of L-histidine and related compounds and of fish and whale muscles. Buffering capacities of inorganic phosphate, carnosine, and anserine in the pH range of 6.5-7,5 were high and relatively insensitive to changes in temperature within the range from 5 to 40°C. Histidine and balenine, however, represented rather low buffering capacities and large decreases in the capacity with increasing temperature. Several other non-physiological histidine containing dipeptides such as L-alanyl-L-histidine and L-seryl-L-histidine also showed high capacities and no temperature dependence. White muscle of skipjack tuna containing large amounts of histidine and anserine showed the highest muscle buffering capacity, followed by little-piked whale muscle containing high balenine. The buffering of these muscles represented a rather large temperature dependence above 20°C. Buffering capacities of several other fish muscles containing little amounts of histidine related dipeptides were low and showed almost no temperature dependence. © 1991, The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. All rights reserved.