The lactate (LAC), creatine (CRN), taurine (TAU), anserine (ANS) and carnosine (CAR) content of the masseter muscles (MM), long extensor muscles of digits (EDL) and soleus muscles (SOL) of young rats were determined using in vitro ¹H-NMR spectroscopy to assess the significance of CRN, TAU, ANS and CAR in these muscles. The muscles of Wistar rats at the ages of 6, 12 and 18 weeks were dissected after decapitation and used for the metabolite analyses. The LAC and CAR content of all muscle groups showed no age dependence. The CRN content was increased age-dependently in MM but not in EDL or SOL. The LAC and CRN content was higher in MM and EDL (fast-twitch) than in SOL (slow-twitch) (P<0.01-0.001 at 18 weeks). A significant positive correlation existed between the LAC and CRN content (P<0.00001, r=0.80), suggesting that the CRN content reflects the capacity of the anaerobic glycolysis of the individual muscles. The TAU content was higher in SOL and MM than in EDL (P<0.05) and showed an approximately 1.5-fold increase with age in all three muscle groups. The ANS content was higher in EDL than in SOL and MM (P<0.001), and showed an approximately threefold increase with age in all three muscle groups. The ANS content positively correlated with the LAC content (P<0.001, r=0.41), and the chemical shift of the imidazole proton in ANS showed a correlation with the LAC content (P<0.0001, r>0.76), indicating that ANS would buffer the pH change produced by LAC. These results suggest that ¹H-NMR spectroscopy would provide an adjunct method of assessing the muscle types and their development.