Untargeted Lipidomics Method for the Discrimination of Five Crab Species by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Combined with Chemometrics

In this study, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution accurate mass-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRAM/MS) was applied to characterize the lipid profiles of five crab species. A total of 203 lipid molecular species in muscle tissue and 176 in edible viscera were quantified. The results indicate that Cancer pagurus contained high levels of lipids with a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapntemacnioc acid (EPA) structure in the muscle tissue and edible viscera. A partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that PE 16:0/22:6, PE P-18:0/20:5, PA 16:0/22:6 and PC 16:0/16:1 could be used as potential biomarkers to discriminate the five kinds of crabs. In addition, some lipids, such as PE 18:0/20:5, PC 16:0/16:1, PE P-18:0/22:6 and SM 12:1;2O/20:0, could be used as characteristic molecules to distinguish between Cancer magister and Cancer pagurus, which are similar in appearance. This study provides a new perspective on discriminating crab species from MS-based lipidomics.