Quantitative high-resolution 13C nuclear magnetic resonance of anserine and lactate in white muscle of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Abstract

Quantitative 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of minced white muscle of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were obtained without chemical pretreatment of the sample. The carbon in the metabolites anserine and lactate gave rise to sufficiently resolved signals in the 13C spectrum to permit estimation of the total concentration of these muscle constituents. The NMR data are in good agreement with corresponding data reported in the literature obtained by conventional methods, indicating that all of these metabolites are NMR visible. Information about the muscle pH was obtained from the pH-dependent 13C chemical shift of C14 and C16 in the histidine ring of anserine. Well-resolved 13C NMR spectra obtained from intact muscle of Atlantic salmon demonstrate that NMR will be a useful method to study postmortem changes occurring during storage of fish.