ABSTRACT
Muscle protein accretion is the difference between the rates of muscle protein synthesis and degradation. The growth rate of meat-producing animals is related to the muscle protein accretion — that is, the higher the protein accretion, the higher the growth rate of the animal — one of the most economically important traits in meat production. In addition, optimization of muscle protein accretion on minimal feed intake will minimize the environmental load, and thus be in favor of a sustainable production. Finally, there seems to be a link between muscle protein accretion in vivo and tenderness development postmortem, as the enzymes involved in the degradation of muscle protein in vivo also affect the proteolysis postmortem, which is essential for the tenderization (Goll et al. 1998; Koohmaraie et al. 2002). Consequently, focus on muscle protein turnover and how it can be manipulated is very important to optimize meat production both from a producer and consumer point of view.
