Differentiation of meat species of raw and processed meat based on polar metabolites using 1H NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis

Meat species of raw meat and processed meat products were investigated by H-1 NMR spectroscopy with subsequent multivariate data analysis. Sample preparation was based on aqueous extraction combined with ultrafiltration in order to reduce macromolecular components in the extracts. H-1 NMR data was analyzed by using a non-targeted approach followed by principal component analysis (PCA), linear discrimination analysis (LDA), and cross-validation (CV) embedded in a Monte Carlo (MC) resampling approach. A total of 379 raw meat samples (pork, beef, poultry, and lamb) and 81 processed meat samples (pork, beef, poultry) were collected between the years 2018 and 2021. A 99% correct prediction rate was achieved if the raw meat samples were classified according to meat species. Predicting processed meat products was slightly less successful (93 %) with this approach. Furthermore, identification of spectral regions that are relevant for the classification via polar chemical markers was performed. Finally, data on polar metabolites were fused with previously published H-1 NMR data on non-polar metabolites in order to build a broader classification model and to improve prediction accuracy.