Identification of characteristic volatiles and metabolomic pathway during pork storage using HS-SPME-GC/MS coupled with multivariate analysis

Previous researches have been conducted evaluating the volatile compounds of pork. However, data regarding the changes in volatiles and metabolic pathways during pork storage were inadequately investigated. Herein, a headspace solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) coupled multivariate analysis was proposed for characterizing the profiles of volatile compounds and metabolic pathways during pork storage. A total of 37 metabolites, including aldehydes, ketones, alcohols etc. were successfully identified. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed a substantial variation in metabolite phenotype among samples over the pork storage period, with 12 characteristic metabolites and 5 potential characteristic metabolites screened as biomarkers. Moreover, three metabolomic pathways analysis and transformation between each other (thermal reactions, lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism) reveals the underlying mechanisms of metabolites change of pork. Therefore, the present study may provide insight into future understanding of the variation in the pork metabolite profiles.