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Research Project: Improved Processes for the Preservation and Utilization of Vegetables, Including Cucumber, Sweetpotato, Cabbage, and Peppers to Produce Safe, High Quality Products with Reduced Energy Use and Waste

Location: Food Science Research

Title: Metabolomic technologies for improving the quality of food: Practice and promise

Author
item Johanningsmeier, Suzanne
item HARRIS, G. KEITH - North Carolina State University
item KLEVORN, CLAIRE - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Annual Review of Food Science & Technology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2016
Publication Date: 2/1/2016
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62514
Citation: Johanningsmeier, S.D., Harris, G., Klevorn, C. 2016. Metabolomic technologies for improving the quality of food: Practice and promise. Annual Review of Food Science & Technology. 7:413-438. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-food-022814-015721.

Interpretive Summary: The field of metabolomics aims to comprehensively characterize all of the small molecules in a biological system. Agricultural production and food preservation systems can benefit from using metabolomics to generate new knowledge for improving the quality of food. This review article provides an overview of the current terminology, analytical methods, and compounds associated with metabolomic studies, and provides insight into the application of metabolomics to generate new knowledge that enables us to produce, preserve and distribute high quality foods for health promotion.

Technical Abstract: It is now well documented that the diet has a significant impact on human health and well-being. However, the complete set of small molecule metabolites present in foods that make up the human diet and the role of food production systems in altering this food metabolome are still largely unknown. Metabolomic platforms that rely on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) analytical technologies are being employed to study the impact of agricultural practices, processing, and storage on the global chemical composition of food; to identify novel bioactive compounds; and for authentication and region-of-origin classifications. This review provides an overview of the current terminology, analytical methods, and compounds associated with metabolomic studies, and provides insight into the application of metabolomics to generate new knowledge that enables us to produce, preserve, and distribute high-quality foods for health promotion.