Metabolomics Mass Spectrometry Data Processing: Applications in Food Analysis

The application of mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to food sciences, i.e. “foodomics”, offers new and innovative strategies to address complex problems in areas of nutrition, health, and food safety. While the data analysis workflow for foodomics is similar to traditional metabolomics studies, there is potential for informatics to be applied in unique ways. This is because foodomics studies can incorporate both food-specific components such as chemical composition, plant varieties, and origin, and information related to human health, dietary intake, and host-microbiome metabolism. Overall, this information can be used for traceability studies or to understand how a specific food or whole diet, can affect human health.