Mitochondria changes and metabolome differences of bovine longissimus lumborum and psoas major during 24 h postmortem

This study was performed to reveal mitochondria changes and metabolome differences between bovine longissimus lumborum (LL) and psoas major (PM) muscles within the first 24 h postmortem. PM showed significant lower (P < .05) pH than LL at 6 h and 12 h postmortem. LL had significant higher (P < .05) mitochondrial membrane potential and lower mitochondrial reactive oxygen species levels than PM at 24 h postmortem. For metabolome, distinctive separation between LL and PM could be seen from principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis. Carnosine, L-histidine and adenosine diphosphate were found with higher abundances in LL. Whereas higher abundances of inosine and hypoxanthine were detected in PM, which indicated distinct purine metabolism rate between muscle types. Higher abundances of glycerophospholipids in PM may increase risk of oxidation damage, and subsequently result in inferior meat quality during extended retail display. The results of this study provided an idea for further research regarding the muscle-specific mitochondrial ROS on meat quality.