considered a functional food product with high nutritional value, and the elderly and women are more inclined to eat Silkie chicken meat to nourish their body.  
Although the health-promoting effects of Silkie chicken meat have been recognized for a long time [1,2], the key bioactive components remain unclear. Existing studies have preliminarily analyzed the bioactive components with high nutritional value in Silkie chicken meat. A notable characteristic of Silkie chicken meat is the distribution of melanin [3], which has health-promoting effects such as nourishing blood, hypoglycemic effects, and antioxidant activity [4]. With respect to water-soluble metabolites, the carosine content in the breast muscle of Silkie chickens is significantly higher than that in the breast muscle of White Plymouth Rock [5]. With respect to fatty acids, the contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, arachidonic acid (20:4n \(-\) 6), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n \(-\) 3, EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n \(-\) 3, DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n \(-\) 3, DHA) in the breast muscle of Silkie chickens are significantly higher than those in the breast muscle of Cobb chickens [6], crossbred Silkie chickens [7], Lingnan yellow chickens, and Chongren chickens [8]. However, the above studies only compared the contents of several specific metabolites and fatty acids in the breast muscles of Silkie chickens and other chicken breeds.  
The meat from Silkie chickens is firm and delicious. A previous study showed that compared with Korean local chicken, meat color \(L^{\star}\), \(a^{\star}\), and \(b^{\star}\) values of breast muscle in Silkie chickens were lower and the pH value and water-holding capacity were higher [9]. A study on volatile flavor compounds showed that the content of aldehydes and esters in the breast muscle of Silkie chickens was significantly higher than that in the breast muscle of Cobb chickens [6]. Small-molecule metabolites and lipids are closely related to meat quality characteristics. Energy metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle regulate and determine meat quality traits in a coordinative manner, including color, pH value, water-holding capacity, intramuscular fat content, and tenderness [10]. Water-soluble metabolites and lipids are important flavor compounds and form volatiles through the Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation, respectively, which determine flavor quality [11]. However, there is currently a lack of research on the relationship between meat quality characteristics and metabolites in breast muscle of Silkie chickens.  
Age has a significant effect on the contents of metabolites and lipids in muscle [12]. The marketing age of commercial broilers is generally 6 weeks. However, many Chinese local chicken breeds grow slowly, with a marketing age of more than 16 weeks. These local chickens are delicious and nutritious. Consumers usually cook the meat in purified water to retain its original taste and nutrients. Silkie chicken and Wuding chicken are two such famous local breeds, and have the same growth rate and marketing age (24 weeks). Wuding chicken is a high-quality local chicken breed with tender and delicious meat that has a broad consumer market in southern China. However, consumers eat the meat of Wuding chicken as ordinary food, while the elderly and women prefer the meat of Silkie chickens as functional food to nourish their body. Therefore, in the present study, we conducted metabolomic and lipidomic analyses to comprehensively identify the characteristic bioactive components with high nutritional value in breast muscle of Silkie chickens, and analyzed the effects of these characteristic components on meat quality characteristics.