Post-mortem aging could enhance the unique flavors of beef via several biochemical pathways. The microbiota is one of the important factors in the flavor development of aging beef, but their potential relationship has rarely been studied. This study characterized the apparent meat quality, flavor profiles, and microbial communities of beef during the different post-mortem processes, followed by the investigation of the correlations between the dominant microbiota and key volatile compounds. The results showed that wet-aged beef has a higher product yield and more stable color than dry-aged beef, as evidenced by the significantly lower value of aging loss and discoloration (ΔE). According to the odor activity value, 11 out of 65 compounds were categorized as aroma-active components, and 9 of them, including 1-pentanol, 1-octen-3-ol, hexanal, nonanal, heptanal, octanal, 2-nonenal, (E)-, 2-octenal, (E)- and 2-decenal, (E)-, were enriched in beef wet-aged for 7 d. Significant variances were found in the microbial communities of different aging beef. Of these, 20 microbiota (with 10 bacterial and 10 fungal genera) were recognized as the dominant genus. Partial least squares regression combined with a correlation network model revealed that five microbial genera, including Trichosporon, Prauserella, Rhodotorula, Malassezia, and Corynebacterium, constituted the functional microbiota responsible for flavor formation in aging beef and were positively associated with ≥7 key volatile compounds (p < 0.05, |ρ| > 0.7). This study suggests that the application of wet aging within 7 d on beef is better for meat quality and provides novel insights into the mechanisms of flavor formation in post-mortem aging beef via functional microbiota.
Keywords: beef rump; correlation analysis; dominant microbiota; key volatile compounds; postmortem aging.