Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics Reveals Dynamic Metabolite Changes during Early Postmortem Aging of Donkey Meat
Wenqiong Chai, Liyuan Wang, Tong Li, Tianqi Wang, Xinrui Wang, Miao Yan, Mingxia Zhu, Jingrong Gao, Changfa Wang, Qiugang Ma, Honglei Qu
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Metabolic changes in donkey meat during the early postmortem period have not been previously reported. METHODS: The LC-MS-based metabolomics technique was conducted to understand the metabolic profiles and identify the key metabolites of donkey meat in the first 48 h postmortem. RESULTS: < 0.05). For the metabolome, some candidate biomarker metabolites were identified, such as adenine, inosine, n-acetylhistidine, citric acid, isocitrate, and malic acid. Predominant metabolic pathways, such as citrate cycle (TCA cycle), alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, and purine metabolism, were affected by aging time. Overabundant n-acetylhistidine was identified in LT, declined at 12 h postmortem aging, and then increased. This may explain the significantly lower pH at 12 h postmortem. Adenine was higher at 4 h postmortem, then declined. Decreased ADP may indicate a fast consumption of ATP and subsequent purine metabolism in donkey meat. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provided new insights into early postmortem aging of donkey meat quality.