Evaluation of E-beam irradiation and storage time in pork exudates using NMR metabolomics

Seventy-two exudates from pork tenderloin samples, subjected to E-beam irradiation treatments, have been employed to monitor, through ¹H NMR analysis, the effects of irradiation dose (0, 1, 2 and 6 kGy) and storage time (1, 6 and 12 days). As far as we know, this is the first study where meat exudate is employed to monitor the effects of irradiation dose and storage time. The ¹H NMR spectra, obtained after ~ 2 min, allowed to determine the main components of the pork exudate. Results show that ¹H NMR-based metabolomics provides valuable information about the metabolic changes suffered during storage and how these transformations could be affected by E-beam irradiation treatment. The ease to obtain exudates, the simple NMR sample preparation, the good correlation between the selected metabolites, the irradiation treatment and the storage times point to that this study could be the first step to develop a new method for analysis and control of meat conservation and to evaluate its irradiation treatment.