Liquid chromatography in food analysis

Food Metabolites as Tools for Authentication, Processing, and Nutritive Value Assessment

“…Additionally, the last one is by means of spectra obtained by absorption of infrared and ultraviolet spectrum and integration into the nuclear magnetic resonance [ 55 ]. Molecular analysis is one of the cornerstones involving studies for food safety, authentication, and quality [ 56 ].…”

“…The separation principle of LC is basically the same as GC (equilibrium between the solute in the mobile phase and the partitions of the column and retention of the different analytes), but the main change is that the mobile phase is a liquid. LC is a well-known and widely used technique by research and industry, it can perform target and non-target analyses and is also capable of separating complex systems and components with different molecular weights and polarity, such as food matrices [ 56 , 75 ]. The stationary phase can be composed of silica, alumina, polar-bonded silica, or nonpolar-bonded silica.…”

“…The great versatility of separation, sensitivity, resolution, and consistency and great range of identification of metabolites turn LC coupled with MS into the major technique applied in metabolomics [ 72 ]. This conjugation is capable of analyzing different compounds, such as terpenes, steroids, flavonoids, amino acids, dyes, and contaminants, besides being very efficient to investigate other plant secondary metabolites and food composition [ 9 , 56 ]. The disadvantages of LC are the need for high volumes of grade solvents, therefore increasing the cost of the process.…”

“…Secondary metabolites are preferentially analyzed by LC due to their size, due to some becoming too large after sample preparation to be analyzed by GC techniques [ 73 ]. Additionally, due to the thermal instability and polarity of organic compounds [ 56 ], only a mere 20% can be analyzed by GC without any pre-treatment [ 77 ].…”

“…HPLC is already a widely used technique to identify anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, and hydroxycinnamic acids in seeds, grapes, wine, and plant extracts [ 53 ]. In relation to food applications, it can act in the identification and characterization of biomarkers associated with contaminants, origin, processing, and assisting in quality control and authenticity [ 56 ]. Cubero-Leon et al [ 78 ] studied the metabolome of carrots ( Daucus carota L.) according to production system and region of origin, applying LC–MS and OPLS-DA as techniques.…”