Grape pomace as a natural preservative: Metabolomics insights into lipid oxidation inhibition and flavor stability in beef.

Abstract

Lipid oxidation and microbial spoilage during beef storage not only shorten product shelf life and compromise consumer safety, but also hinder the sustainable development of the industry. This study investigated grape pomace (GP), a polyphenol-rich wine byproduct, as a shelf life enhancer for Angus beef. The beef is for volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis and for metabolomic profiling. The findings demonstrated that incorporating GP into the cattle diet significantly reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels in beef on post-slaughter day 0. Volatile profiling identified 430 compounds, with GP significantly diminishing spoilage-associated 1-octanol and octanoic acid relative concentrations. The results of untargeted metabolomics analysis showed that dietary replacement with GP significantly activated Alanine, Aspartate and Glutamate metabolism, and the Glutathione, and Histidine metabolism pathways, and multiple pathways jointly promoted the glutathione pathway. This study revealed through metabolomics that GP intervention inhibits lipid oxidation and promotes flavor stability in beef, supporting its potential for the high-value utilization of agricultural by-products and the development of natural meat preservation strategies.