Altered post-mortem metabolism identified in very fast chilled lamb M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum using metabolomic analysis.

Robyn D Warner, Robin H Jacob, Katja Rosenvold, Simone Rochfort, Craige Trenerry, Tim Plozza, Matthew B McDonagh

Index: Meat Science 108 , 155-64, (2015)

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Abstract

The aim of this experiment was to use metabolomic techniques to investigate the energy metabolism in lamb M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum subjected to very fast chilling (VFC) post-mortem. The tissue was prepared by 2 different operators and subjected to very fast chilling (less than 0°C within 1.5h of slaughter) or typical chilling regimes (Control; 0°C within 22h of slaughter). Non-targeted metabolomic analysis ((1)H NMR) and targeted analysis ((31)P NMR, HPLC-PDA and HPLC-MS/MS) were used to examine the change in muscle metabolites post-mortem. One VFC treatment, which resulted in a colder core temperature and more tender meat, had higher levels of glycolytic intermediate metabolites pre-rigor as well as more of the end-products of adenosine and nicotine nucleotide metabolism pre-rigor, relative to conventionally chilled treatments. In conclusion, VFC to less than 0°C within 1.5h of slaughter causes considerable changes in metabolism and rigor onset, which are associated with tender meat. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.