31P solid-state NMR on skeletal muscle of wild and farmed Atlantic salmon

•Study of intracellular phosphorous metabolites.•Skeletal muscle tissue of wild and farmed salmon.•Effects due to differences in diet and way of life.•Wild salmon significantly more diverse composition than farmed salmon. Over the past 50 years, 31P NMR has proven a powerful tool for obtaining information on cellular biochemistry. Here we use this technique for the first time to study intracellular phosphorous metabolites in skeletal muscle tissue of wild and farmed salmon, to investigate possible effects due to differences in diet and way of life. The wild salmon sample shows a significantly more diverse composition of metabolites compared to the farmed salmon sample. The differences are evident in the entire spectrum, including regions displaying resonances from phosphomonoesters and sugar phosphates, as well as other molecules important for phospholipid metabolism. It is demonstrated that 31P MAS NMR can be used to study a broad range of phosphorus metabolites ex vivo, which can give useful information, both on its own or as a supplement to other extraction-based analyses. Further 31P MAS NMR investigations on farmed salmon raised under different controlled conditions may give important insights into the broad array of health issues seen in farmed salmon.