Using an integrated feature-based molecular network and lipidomics approach to reveal the differential lipids in yak shanks and flanks

Yak shanks and flanks are often used as food ingredients, but the lipid composition of these two parts may differ significantly. These meat parts were subjected to a lipidomics analysis using UHPLC-Q-Obitrap. Several computational tools, including feature-based molecular networks, ms-dial, and lipidone, were used to perform deep mining on the entire dataset. The analysis annotated 355 lipid species from 20 subclasses. Lipid chains have a length distribution of 16 to 20 carbons, with unsaturation ranging from 0 to 5. The results revealed that 71 lipids were significantly different in these muscles, including phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) (16:0/20:4), PEs (18:0/19:1), PEs (18:1/22:5), sphingomyelins (SMs) (36:2; 3O), and carnitines (CARs) (22:0). Furthermore, the metabolic pathways of glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids act as important roles in the differences of these lipid components. This study obtained a comprehensive lipid profile, which is critical for understanding the precise nutritional differences in different yak meat sections.