A peptidomic approach to discover the potential biomolecular signatures discriminating in-bag dry- and wet-aged lamb

The study assessed the peptidomic profile of in-bag dry-aged (2 °C, RH 75 %, 0.5 m.s−1, n = 30) and wet-aged (-1.5 °C, n = 30) lamb with high and low levels of lipid oxidation. A total of 1056 low molecular weight peptides (< 10 kDa) were identified in aged lamb samples, using LC-MS/MS and label free quantification (data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD047738). Partial Least Squares – Discriminant analysis highlighted that all discriminating peptides in dry-aged lamb were from titin, whereas discriminating peptides in the wet-aged samples were predominantly from nebulin, myotilin, collagen type IV, LIM domain binding 3, and heat shock protein family B. Comparison of peptides from aged lamb meat with high- and low-levels of lipid oxidation showed that most discriminatory peptides within an ageing method are derived from oxidatively modified peptides from creatine kinase. These peptides could thus potentially be used as signature biomolecules to discriminate ageing techniques and indicate lipid oxidation levels.