Global consumption of poultry meat, particularly chicken, continues to rise. However, there remains a limited understanding regarding alterations in muscle metabolites during animal breeding processes. Here, we demonstrate metabolic differences between selectively bred offspring roosters and their three parental lines. The offspring exhibited superior meat quality, as evidenced by significantly elevated absolute levels of inosine monophosphate (IMP) and decreased cooking loss. Complementary LC-MS and GC–MS analyses revealed dynamic changes in the chicken skeletal muscle metabolome, identifying amino acids and their derivatives as the primary discriminatory metabolites exhibiting elevated abundance in the offspring. Furthermore, gut microbiota was found to correlate with fluctuations in muscle metabolite levels, particularly phenylalanine and IMP. This study provides novel insights for quality control and traceability of animal-derived foods, advocating a whole-industry-chain perspective to scientifically enhance meat quality and flavor attributes. • Enhanced meat quality in offspring versus parental lines • Comprehensive metabolome coverage via integrated LC-MS/GC–MS • Offspring-specific muscle metabolite signatures across parental lines • Gut microbiota restructuring: a driver of quality enhancement
Xu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.