Storage Stability and Lipidomic Analysis Reveal the Effect of Frozen Storage Temperature on Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira)

TL;DR

This study shows that storing Pacific saury at −25 °C better preserves its lipid composition compared to −18 °C.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into how different freezing temperatures affect lipid stability and composition in Pacific saury.

Findings

Lipid oxidation was significantly higher at −18 °C compared to −25 °C.

Storage at −25 °C preserved more lipids like phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.

Glycerophospholipid metabolism was the most affected pathway during frozen storage.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effects of storage temperature on the lipidomics profile change in Pacific saury (Cololabis saira). Methods: In this paper, C. saira underwent frozen storage at two different temperatures, T1 (−18 °C) and T2 (−25 °C), for a duration of three months. Chemical and lipidomic methods were used to determine the changes in lipids during the storage process. Results: Results showed that the content of triglyceride and phospholipid decreased significantly (p < 0.05), and free fatty acid increased significantly (p < 0.05), while the content of total cholesterol remained relatively constant across different storage temperatures. Additionally, an increasing trend in AV, POV, and TBARS contents was observed after the freezing process, with lipid oxidation being significantly higher in the −18 °C group compared to the −25 °C group (p < 0.05). A comprehensive analysis identified 4854 lipid molecules in the muscles of C. saira, categorized into 46 lipid subclasses, predominantly including triglycerides (TG), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and diglycerides (DG). Among them, TG was the most abundant lipid, followed by PC. Using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) with a variable importance in projection (VIP) score > 1 and p value < 0.05 as criteria, 338, 271, and 103 highly significantly differentiated lipids were detected in the comparison groups CK vs. T1, CK vs. T2, and T1 vs. T2, respectively. The results indicated that storage at −18 °C had a more pronounced effect than storage at −25 °C. During the freezing process, TG expression was significantly down-regulated, and TG(18:4_14:0_20:5), TG(20:5_13:0_22:6), TG(22:6_14:1_22:6), and TG(18:4_13:0_22:6) were the most predominant individuals. The CK group was initially present in C. saira before storage. Differential lipid molecules in the CK vs. T1 and CK vs. T2 groups were screened using a fold change (FC) > 2 or FC < 0.5. In the CK vs. T2 group, 102 highly significant differential lipid molecules were identified, with 55 being down-regulated across seven subclasses. In contrast, the CK vs. T1 group revealed 254 highly significant differential lipid molecules, with 85 down-regulated across 13 subclasses. The results showed that more PCs and PEs were down-regulated, with a higher differential abundance of PE and PC in the −25 °C group compared to the −18 °C group. The differential metabolites were primarily enriched in 17 metabolic pathways, with glycerophospholipid metabolism being the most prominent, followed by sphingolipid metabolism during the frozen storage. Conclusions: Overall, −25 °C storage in production was more favorable for maintaining the lipid stability of C. saira. This work could provide useful information for aquatic product processing and lipidomics.

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