Mechanism of flavor deterioration in chicken meat with varying degrees of wooden breast: Insights from integrated HS-GC-IMS and UPLC-MS/MS-based metabolomics

This study investigated the flavor deterioration mechanism in wooden breast (WB) chicken meat using 41-day-old Cobb broilers. Meat was categorized by WB severity (normal to severe). Integrated sensory evaluation, headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS), and ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) revealed that increasing WB severity significantly reduced sensory scores. Volatile compound analysis showed decreased levels of aldehydes, alcohols, and esters but increased sulfur-containing off-flavors. Metabolomics identified 1097 metabolites, with significant accumulation of specific compounds in moderate and severe WB. Key flavor compounds correlated positively with phenylpropanoids and negatively with lipids. Enrichment analysis highlighted arachidonic acid metabolism, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and amino acid metabolism as core pathways. Flavor deterioration is primarily driven by oxidative stress-induced lipid peroxidation and disrupted amino acid metabolism, leading to flavor precursor imbalance. These findings provide a metabolic basis for improving chicken meat quality. • Integrated multi-omics revealed metabolic drivers of flavor loss in wooden breast meat. • Flavor deterioration marked by loss of desirable compounds and rise in sulfurous off-flavors. • Core metabolic pathways governing these flavor changes were identified.