IntroductionThis study aimed to explore the effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on the meat quality and metabolomic profiling of Shaziling pigs.MethodsIn a 51-day experiment, 48 healthy male Shaziling pigs were randomly divided into two groups: a control (Con) group (basic diets) and a CGA-treated group (basic diets + 0.10% CGA).ResultsThe results showed that compared to the Con group, CGA supplementation tended to increase the final weight and dressing percentage of Shaziling pigs. Moreover, CGA increased the intramuscular fat (IMF) content and the pH24h value and decreased the drop loss. CGA also increased the concentrations of inosine-5′-monophosphate (IMP), glutamate, C18:1n9, and MUFAs, and decreased the content of C18:2n6, n6 PUFAs, PUFAs, n6/n3 PUFA ratio in the longissimus dorsi dorsimuscle. CGA supplementation increased the content of muscular 4-hydroxy hexenal, cinobufagin, and NAD, and decreased the content of muscular lactic acid, linoleic acid and stearidonic acid. Correlation analyses showed that these increased metabolites were positively associated with the IMP content and/or negatively associated with the drop loss, and these decreased metabolites follow the opposite pattern.DiscussionIn conclusion, these results indicated that CGA could improve the meat quality of Shaziling pigs, and the effects might be associated with improved muscular metabolites.