The aging of beef affects the metabolome and, thus, its quality, such as taste or tenderness. In addition to the aging method, intrinsic factors, such as breed, feed and muscle type, also have an effect on beef's metabolome. It is not known yet whether the position of the sampling in large muscles also has an influence on beef's metabolome and its aging outcome. The effect of the sampling position in M. longissimus dorsi as a large muscle was investigated in dry-aged and wet-aged beef over an aging period of 28 days. In this study, we analyzed 360 samples out of the entire length of M. longissimus dorsi of 18 'Simmental' young bulls by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The position in the muscle affected the polar fraction of metabolome of non-aged and aged beef significantly. However, sampling position did not overlay significant differences in the metabolome of dry-aged and wet-aged beef. The aging time of beef also had a significant effect on the metabolome. Marker metabolites, such as leucine, isoleucine, inosine 5'-monophosphate and hypoxanthine, were found to be indicative of the aging time applied. In addition, marker metabolites (lactic acid, anserine, O-acetyl-L-carnitine) were identified for the aging type applied.
Keywords: Aging; Beef; Biomarkers; Metabolome; Muscle type; Ripening.
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