NMR and DSC studies during thermal denaturation of collagen

Epimysial and intramuscular connective tissues from calf and cow muscle were studied by NMR and DSC. Water proton NMR transverse relaxation times (T2) were measured at 10°C for both native and thermally-denatured at 90°C for 30–360 min. DSC measurements were used to determine the temperature and the variation enthalpy of sol→gel transition. According to the heating time, significant differences were observed between tissues. NMR discriminated the type of collagen whereas DSC distinguished the age of tissue. Differences were related to the degree of protein hydration, emphasising the complementary information from these two analytical tools.