Combined Application of High-Throughput Sequencing and UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS-Based Metabolomics in the Evaluation of Microorganisms and Metabolites of Dry-Cured Ham of Different Origins

This study aims to establish the relationship between microorganisms and metabolites over a period of two years in the fermentation of hams from: Jinghai (JH2), Xuanwei (XW2), and Rugao (RG2) in China; Iberian (YL2) from Spain; and Parma (PA2) from Italy. We profiled bacterial communities by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA genes and metabolites were analyzed using LC-Q-TOF-MS. LEfSe analysis showed that different biomarkers in five ham groups: Staphylococcus, Tetragenococcus, Halomonas, Corynebacterium and Cobetia in YL2, XW2, RG2, PA2 and JH2, respectively. OPLS analysis showed that most differential metabolites are amino acids and were primarily associated with four metabolic pathways closely related to fermentation.