Application of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics in food science and technology.

Metabolomics is a tool used for quantitative assessment of metabolites that has been applied extensively in the field of food science. Recently, metabolomics-based gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is becoming a common tool for analyzing, not only volatile compounds, but also non-volatile compounds due to the development of various derivatization methods. Although several studies have reviewed the application of metabolomics in food science, this present review article specifically focuses on metabolomics research using GC/MS for analysis of non-volatile compounds such as sugars, amino acids, and organic acids. From exhaustive literature research, the application of GC/MS-based metabolomics for non-volatile compounds in food science includes discriminating food samples based on cultivars and authentication of food samples to prevent food fraud, characterizing the profile of food samples to provide a general overview of the sample, evaluating stress-response, optimizing postharvest processes based on metabolic changes, monitoring changes during growth and food processing, evaluating and predicting food quality, and evaluating food shelf-life. GC/MS-based analysis of non-volatile compounds has been proven to be extremely valuable in food science, and might open new avenues for future researchers and engineers to develop instruments or improving production process in food industry.

Investigation of the characteristics of different shrimps by species and habitat using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry based metabolomics.

Approximately 6.5 million tons of shrimp are consumed annually worldwide. The price of shrimp is greatly influenced by species and habitat (e.g., farmed vs wild-caught). In recent years, false labeling has become a problem in the shrimp industry. False labeling can include species, habitat (whether farmed or wild-caught). This problem is motivated by the potential for economic benefit, and significantly reduces the consumer reliability of food. As a first step in establishing a detection method, we took a metabolomics approach to elucidate phenotypic diversity by assessing genetic differences and environmental factors. Metabolites identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis to identify metabolites that correlated with shrimp species and habitat. The characteristics based on species and habitat were observed respectively. For species, the classification approximately tended to be based on taxonomy. It suggests that species different have strong effect on metabolite profiles. In particular, the difference between Panaediae and Pandalidae was significantly observed, and some fatty acids such as palmitoleic acid and elaidic acid are abundant in Pandalidae. Among Pandalidae, Japanese tiger shrimp was characterized by metabolites related to purine metabolism. For habitat, farmed shrimp had a high amino acid content, and wild caught shrimp had a high fatty acid content. Habitat-based separation was observed in Indonesian black tiger shrimp samples, indicating that metabolites such as glycolic acid, phosphate, and pentadecanoic acid are characteristic components of natural black tiger shrimp.