Mussel metabolomics - Species discrimination and provenance determination

- Mussels from Australia and New Zealand can be differentiated by metabolomics.
- Mussels of the same genetic stock but different locations can also be distinguished.
- Metabolomics approaches could be useful for provenance determination for mussels.
- Tools for fisheries agencies investigating provenance/poaching could be developed.

This study has undertaken a metabolomic assessment of Australian blue mussels, (Mytilus galloprovincialis). A comparison to the New Zealand green lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) was also made. The aqueous metabolomes were investigated by NMR and the lipid metabolomes by NMR and GC/MS. There are clear metabolic differences between the species M. galloprovincialis and P. canaliculus though this may be due to environmental factors as well as genetic differences. There is also significant variation between the M. galloprovincialis samples collected from two different sites within Port Phillip Bay Victoria. These results indicate that metabolomics approaches could be useful for provenance determination for mussels and could be developed into a tool useful for fisheries and food agencies to trace mussel products.