Carnosine and Anserine in Chicken: Distribution, Age-dependency and their Anti-glycation Activity

The imidazole dipeptide carnosine and its methylated anserine analogues are the major histidine containing dipeptides in vertebrate tissue, especially in skeletal muscle, the heart, and the central nervous system. In this study, the carnosine and anserine content in chicken from different parts and of differing ages was determined and their physiological activities were compared. Anserine was more dominant than carnosine in these tissues and both of them significantly decreased with aging in all parts of chicken muscles. Chicken breast muscle showed the highest content of carnosine and anserine than drumstick and wing. Advanced glycated end-product (AGE) formation was inhibited up to 60% by the extract from 20 wk chicken breast and decreased with aging (90 wk). Anti-oxidation activity was also significantly reduced from 61.2% to 52.9% with aging. As results, anti-glycation and anti-oxidation activity of carnosine and anserine extract from chicken muscle increased proportionally to the amount of those peptides in the muscle, while these decreased with the aging process.