1H NMR-based metabolic characterization of Chinese Wuding chicken meat

•The profile of Wuding chicken meat was dominated by 57 metabolites.•Total metabolite content was significantly lower in 110 day Wuding chicken meat.•Organic acid and small peptides were the most metabolites for the chicken meat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of precursor flavor substance of Wuding chicken with the age of 110, 140, 170, 200 and 230 days. The metabolic composition of chicken meat was studied using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Compared with 110 days, the total metabolite content was significantly higher in other four periods for the chicken breast and leg meat (P