2018 Volume 24 Issue 5 Pages 883-891
A metabolic analysis technique employing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to distinguish between muscle tissue types in yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata. The dataset of metabolites from each yellowtail muscle type was subjected to metabolic profile analysis using the SIMCA 14 software package. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis revealed a marked difference in metabolic profiles of ordinary muscle (OM) and dark muscle (DM), and OM types were further separated into three groups (dorsal, caudal and ventral). Further, several metabolites, such as ornithine for OM vs DM and glycerol-3-phosphate for OM tissue types were identified as potential markers for distinguishing types of yellowtail flesh by S-plot analysis. Based on these findings, metabolic analysis techniques could become useful tools for distinguishing among fish muscle types.