The objective of this study was to establish an optimized 1D 1H quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) analytical method for analyzing polar metabolites in meat. Three extraction solutions [0.6 M perchloric acid, 10 mM phosphate buffer, water/methanol (1:1)], three reconstitution buffers [20 mM 3-morpholinopropane-1-sulfonic acid, 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazin-1-yl]ethanesulfonic acid, phosphate buffer], and two pulse programs (zg30, noesypr1d) were evaluated. Extraction with 0.6 M perchloric acid and 20 mM phosphate resulted in a stable baseline and no additional overlap for quantifying polar metabolites in chicken breast. In qNMR analysis, zg30 pulse program (without water-suppression) showed smaller relative standard deviation (RSD) and faster running time than noesypr1d (water-suppression). High-performance liquid chromatography was compared with qNMR analyses to validate accuracy. The zg30 pulse program showed good accuracy and lower RSD. The optimized qNMR method was able to apply for beef and pork samples. Thus, an optimized 1D 1H qNMR method for meat metabolomics was established.
Keywords: extraction solution; meat; polar metabolites; qNMR; reconstitution buffer.