Sensory Properties and Main Differential Metabolites Influencing the Taste Quality of Dry-Cured Beef during Processing

Abstract

This study adopted widely targeted high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) metabolomics and multivariate data analysis methods to evaluate the correlation between changes in metabolites and their taste formation in dry-cured beef during processing. The physicochemical profile changed significantly in the maturity period (RG), especially due to the continuous hydrolysis and oxidation of proteins. The sensory characteristic of dry-cured beef was highest in saltiness, umami, overall taste, and after-taste in RG. Overall, 400 metabolites were mainly identified, including amino acids, peptides, organic acids, and their derivatives, nucleotides, and their metabolites, as well as carbohydrates. Cysteine and succinic acid were significantly up-regulated during the process of dry-curing beef compared to the control group (CG). Moreover, glutamine and glutathione were significantly down-regulated in the fermentation period (FG) and in RG. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, taurine, and hypotaurine metabolism were the main metabolic pathways influencing the taste of dry-cured beef during processing. Results of correlation analysis revealed that umami is positively correlated with salty, L-cysteine, L-arginine, inosine, creatinine, and succinic acid. Our study results provide a better understanding of the changes in taste substances and will contribute to quality evaluation of dry-cured beef.

The combination of high‐throughput sequencing and LC–MS/MS reveals the mechanism of Staphylococcus inoculation on bacterial community succession and taste development during the processing of dry‐cured bacon

“…Previous studies have reported that amino acid derivatives and nucleotide derivatives are abundant metabolites in dry-cured meat products. 17,26 In the present study, although N-acetylmethionine and N-acetyllysine showed a high concentration (258.62 ng g −1 and 301.29 ng g −1 , respectively) in SX&SV, the high taste threshold (> 2000 μmol L −1 ) of them decreased their contributions to the taste of dry-cured bacon. 17 Similarly, IMP and AMP also had a high wileyonlinelibrary.com/jsfa taste threshold (2500 and 4000 μmol L −1 , respectively) and a very low concentration (12.91 and 23.15 ng g −1 , respectively).…”

“…This finding was supported by the obvious increase in the content of 5′‐GMP, adenosine and guanosine in SX&SV. In the presence of benzoyl‐CoA reductase, apyrase and GMP reductase, ATP was reduced to ADP and subsequent reduction to 5′‐AMP and 5′‐GMP 26 . Moreover, the TCA cycle was also changed in SX&SV and the observed increase in the content of 4‐guanidinobutanoic acid provided evidence for this finding.…”

“…Organic acids also contribute to the development of taste attributes in dry‐cured meat products 15 . Organic acids are the product of carbohydrate fermentation under microorganism metabolism, providing a slightly acidic environment for dry‐cured bacon, and allowing the maximum amount of γ‐glutamyl peptides and other umami substances to exist 26 . In the present study, a higher content of 4‐guanidinobutyric acid was shown in SX&SV compared to CK, which could be attributed to the treatment of S. vitulinus and S. xylosus accelerating the glycolysis.…”

“…In the presence of benzoyl-CoA reductase, apyrase and GMP reductase, ATP was reduced to ADP and subsequent reduction to 5 0 -AMP and 5 0 -GMP. 26 Moreover, the TCA cycle was also changed in SX&SV and the observed increase in the content of 4-guanidinobutanoic acid provided evidence for this finding. Furthermore, 4-guanidinobutanoic acid arises from arginine and proline metabolism and then enters into TCA cycle to participate in acid metabolism.…”

Taste Compound Generation and Variation in Chinese Water Chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis (Burm.f.) Trin. ex Hensch.) Processed with Different Methods by UPLC-MS/MS and Electronic Tongue System

“…The addition of IMP to sweet amino acids also has the effect of enhancing sweetness [ 22 ]. GMP is considered an important flavor substance of dried mushrooms [ 23 ]. At the same time, these taste nucleotides can produce synergistic effects with ASP, Glu, etc., to produce a stronger flavor effect.…”