Affiliation:
1. Liaocheng Research Institute of Donkey High-Efficiency Breeding and Ecological Feeding, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
2. School of Food and Pharmacy, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316000, China
3. State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
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: The pH values showed a decreasing trend followed by an increasing trend. Shear force was the lowest at 4 h and the highest at 24 h (p < 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.
Funder
Youth Science Foundation of China
National Key R&D Program of China
Livestock and Poultry Seed Industry Project
Shandong Province’s Key Research and Development Project