Metabolome fingerprints, performance and carcass quality of beef calves supplemented with antibiotic free additive.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of probiotics on pre-weaning performance, muscle, and fat deposition and serum metabolite profiles in male and female Senepol calves. Thirty new-born Senepol calves, 15 males and 15 females, were randomly allocated to the following treatments: CON a control group that received the basal creep feeding diet and PRO animals that received the basal diet with addition of 2 g/100 kg of body weight (BW) of probiotic. PRO supplementation did not change the DMI but increased average BW, final BW, ADG relative to animals fed CON. Additionally, PRO improved LMA and marbling. Regardless of the serum metabolite profile, the important metabolites for discriminating PRO and CON were glutamine, leucine, creatine, acetate, creatinine, arginine, glutamate, hippurate, glycerol, carnitine, lactate, carnosine, myo-inositol and histidine. According to gender, males had an overabundance of glutamine, glycerol, isoleucine, creatinine and glucose, whereas females had an overabundance of acetyl carnitine, glutamate and carnitine. In conclusion, the addition of PRO in the pre-weaning diet of calves increases performance, weight at weaning and muscle and fat deposition on the carcass, improving proteins and fatty acid metabolism, the immune system response and rumen development.

Using TD-NMR relaxometry and 1D 1H NMR spectroscopy to evaluate aging of Nellore beef.

The aim of this study was to explore the use of TD-NMR relaxometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy-based for detecting differences in meat quality attributes. There was limited association between various TD-NMR signals and any physicochemical parameters of fresh and aged meat differing in tenderness ratings. Samples were then divided into three groups based on statistical changes in metabolite concentration. Group A samples possessed near linear increases in metabolite concentration over aging time; whereas samples assigned to Groups B and C were characterized by increases in metabolites that peaked between 7 and 14 days, and up to 14 days aging, respectively. 1H NMR spectroscopy discriminated meat quality using changes in metabolites reflective of glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, protein degradation, amino acid generation and purine metabolisms. These data suggest segregation of meat quality is possible using both NMR technologies but additional work is necessary to understand fully their utility in a commercial industry setting.

Characterization of chicken muscle disorders through metabolomics, pathway analysis, and water relaxometry: a pilot study.

Metabolite profiles of chicken breast extracts and water mobility in breasts were studied using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and time-domain NMR (TD-NMR) relaxometry, respectively, using normal breast (NB), and wooden breast (WB) and white striping (WS) myopathies in broilers. One thousand eight hundred sixty broilers were raised to commercial standards, receiving the same diets that were formulated as per the different growth stages. At 49 D of age, 200 animals were slaughtered following routine commercial procedures, and at 4 h postmortem, the whole breast (pectoralis major muscle) was removed and visually inspected by an experienced meat inspector who selected NB (without myopathies) and samples with the presence of WS and WB myopathies. Fifteen breasts (5 each of NB, WS, and WB) were analyzed through TD-NMR relaxometry, and samples of approximately 20 g were taken from each breast and frozen at -80°C for metabolite profiling through 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to evaluate the effect on water relaxometry and metabolite profile in accordance with the presence and type of myopathy in the breast. 1H-NMR data showed that the metabolite profiles in WS and WB breasts were different from each other and from NB. This pilot study shows that myopathies appear to be related to hypoxia, connective tissue deposition, lower mitochondrial function, and greater oxidative stress compared with NB. The longitudinal and transverse relaxation time of the breasts determined by TD-NMR relaxometry was shorter for NB than that for WS and WB, indicating greater water mobility in breasts affected by myopathies. 1H-NMR spectroscopy can be used to differentiate the metabolism of WS, WB, and NB, and TD-NMR has the potential to be a fast, simple, and noninvasive method to distinguish NB from WB and WS. As a practical application, the metabolomic profile as per the occurrence of breast myopathies may be used for a better understanding of these issues, which opens a gap to mitigate the incidence and severity of WS and WB. In addition, the present study brings an opportunity for the development of a new and objective tool to classify the incidence of breast myopathies through TD-NMR relaxometry.