Characterization of Metabolite and Lipid Compositions in Lycopene-Enriched Egg Yolk Using Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

This study established an untargeted metabolomic approach based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) to investigate differences in metabolites and lipid composition of lycopene-enriched egg yolk at different enrichment levels and conventional egg yolks. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering revealed clear unsupervised discrimination and separation among the control group and two treatment groups. Metabolomic analysis identified 14 differential metabolites, including amino acids, which were associated with 13 metabolic pathways such as cysteine and methionine metabolism. Lipidomic analysis revealed 48 significantly altered lipids, including phospholipids and glycerides. The results demonstrated that lycopene supplementation significantly altered the metabolic and lipid profiles of egg yolks. Specifically, lycopene enrichment upregulated phospholipid synthesis and increased the levels of antioxidant-related metabolites. This study confirms that untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics can effectively identify potential biomarkers in egg yolks with varying lycopene enrichment levels, offering new insights and a scientific basis for nutritional research and metabolic mechanism analysis of functional eggs.