Proteomics and metabolomics profiling of pork exudate reveals meat spoilage during storage

Previous studies have evaluated pork quality by omics methods. However, proteomics coupled with metabolomics to investigate pork freshness by using pork exudates has not been reported. This study determined the changes in profiles of peptides and metabolites in exudates from pork stored at different temperatures (25, 10, 4, and -2 ℃). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed similar changes in profiles in exudates collected from pork stored at -2 and 4 ℃, and additional changes following storage at higher temperatures. We identified peptides from 7 proteins and 30 metabolites differing in abundance between fresh and spoiled pork. Significant correlations be-tween pork quality and most of the peptides from these 7 proteins and 30 metabolites were found. The present study provides insight into changes in peptide and metabolite profiles of exudates from pork during storage at different temperatures and our analysis suggest that such changes can be used as markers for pork spoilage.