Twenty Years of ¹H NMR Plant Metabolomics: A Way Forward toward Assessment of Plant Metabolites for Constitutive and Inducible Defenses to Biotic Stress

Abstract

Metabolomics has become an important tool in elucidating the complex relationship between a plant genotype and phenotype. For over 20 years, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been known for its robustness, quantitative capabilities, simplicity, and cost-efficiency. 1 H NMR is the method of choice for analyzing a broad range of relatively abundant metabolites, which can be used for both capturing the plant chemical profile at one point in time and understanding the pathways that underpin plant defense. This systematic Review explores how 1 H NMR-based plant metabolomics has contributed to understanding the role of various compounds in plant responses to biotic stress, focusing on both primary and secondary metabolites. It clarifies the challenges and advantages of using 1 H NMR in plant metabolomics, interprets common trends observed, and suggests guidelines for method development and establishing standard procedures.