Comparing the Profiles of Raw and Cooked Donkey Meat by Metabonomics and Lipidomics Assessment

Mengmeng Li; Wei Ren; Wenqiong Chai; Mingxia Zhu; Limin Man; Yandong Zhan; Huaxiu Qin; Mengqi Sun; Jingjing Liu; Demin Zhang; Yonghui Wang; Tianqi Wang; Xiaoyuan Shi; Changfa Wang

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.851761

Comparing the Profiles of Raw and Cooked Donkey Meat by Metabonomics and Lipidomics Assessment

Front Nutr. 2022 Mar 25:9:851761. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.851761. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering, Liaocheng Research Institute of Donkey High-Efficiency Breeding and Ecological Feeding, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China.
² Shandong Animal Husbandry Station, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Heat cooking of meat gives it a specific taste and flavor which are favored by many consumers. While the characteristic taste components of chicken, duck, pig, and seafood have been studied, there is a lack of information about the molecular components that give donkey meat its unique taste. Here, the characterization profiles of raw donkey meat (RDM) and cooked donkey meat (CDM) meat by metabonomics and lipidomics. The results showed that a total of 186 metabolites belonging to 8 subclasses were identified in CDM and RDM, including carbohydrates (27.42%), amino acids (17.20%), lipids (13.44%), and nucleotides (9.14%). In total, 37 differential metabolites were identified between CDM and RDM. Among these, maltotriose, L-glutamate, and L-proline might predominantly contribute to the unique umami and sweet taste of donkey meat. Comprehensive biomarker screening detected 9 potential metabolite markers for the discrimination among RDM and CDM, including L-glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and butane-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrol. Moreover, a total of 992 and 1,022 lipids belonging to 12 subclasses were identified in RDM and CDM, respectively, mainly including triglycerides (TGs) and glycerophospholipids (GPs). Of these lipids, 116 were significantly different between CDM and RDM. The abundances of 61 TGs rich in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were retained in CDM, whereas the abundances of 37 GPs rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids were reduced, suggesting that TGs and GPs might be the predominant lipids for binding and generating aroma compounds, respectively. A total of 13 lipids were determined as potential markers for the discrimination among RDM and CDM, including PC(O-16:2/2:0), LPE(22:5/0:0), and PC(P-16:0/2:0). In conclusion, this study provided useful information about the metabolic and lipid profiles of donkey meat which may explain its unique taste and flavor, which could serve as a basis for the development and quality control of donkey meat and its products.

Keywords: donkey meat; lipid profile; lipidomics; metabonomics; taste compounds.