Metabolomics in Seafood and Meats Research

5^th Industrializing Cultivated Meats and Seafood Summit is happening this week in Boston (MA). It is focused on the bioprocessing challenges and the advancement of cultivated meat and seafood production to the commercial scale. In connection to this event, we would like to highlight some of the open access publications related to this research area.

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Metabolic process of sperm motility activation in fish is not clearly defined. Authors used ricefield eelsperm as a model to study the metabolic mechanism of the sperm motility activation in fish. Widely-Targeted Metabolomics was used for this project. Zhang H. et al., Genes 2020, 11(11), 1259; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11111259

529 metabolites were identified in the sperm of ricefield eel, which were clustered into the organic acids, amino acids, nucleotides, benzene, and carbohydrates. 92 metabolites were decreased in the post-activated sperm. Based on the pathway analysis, the authors found that the changed metabolites in sperm motility activation were mainly clustered into energy metabolism and anti-oxidative stress.

Metabolomics_Meat_Seafood_PCA_plot “Ambient ultraviolet B radiation induced valve behavioral acclimation of Pacific oyster which resulted from the different response strategies of smooth and striated adductor muscles” is an open access paper in the “Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety” journal. Song H. et al., Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2021 Dec 1;228:113035; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.113035

The different responses of the adductor muscles (smooth and striated muscle tissues were used as samples) were shown in signal transduction and metabolisms of energy and nucleotide. 608 metabolites were identified and were classified as follows: amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids, carboxylic acids, oxidized lipids, glycerophospholipids, and fatty acids. Widely-Targeted Metabolomics was used in this study too.

Chicken meat quality was evaluated in the chicken breast muscle tissue by Ge Y. et al., Food Chem X 2023, Mar 30; 17: 100550; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2022.100550. 544 metabolites in 32 categories were identified, among which amino acids and organic acids were the most abundant. Age is an important factor affecting chicken metabolites. Arginine biosynthesis, purine metabolism, alanine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid metabolism were important metabolic pathways that affect chicken meat flavor. MetwareCloud_general_2023

Quantitative Lipidomics, Widely-Targeted Metabolomics and Transcriptomics were used to investigate the molecular mechanisms impacting meat quality in Enshi black pigs. “Integrative Analysis Of Transcriptomic And Metabolomic Profiles Reveal The Complex Molecular Regulatory Network Of Meat Quality In Enshi Black Pigs” by Zhan H. et al., Meat Sci. 2022 Jan;183:108642; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108642

The results suggest that 120 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 171 significantly changed metabolites (SCM) contribute to the content of intramuscular fat through the processes of fat accumulation and regulation of lipolysis. A total of 141 DEGs and 47 SCMs may regulate meat color through the processes of nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism.

Studies above show the utility of metabolomics, lipidomics and transcriptomics is the research related to the protein-based foods quality and nutrition, as well as in studying stress response and other important factors.

At Metware lab in Boston we offer you the following services related to this research area:

TM Widely-Targeted Metabolomics