You Are What You Eat: Application of Metabolomics Approaches to Advance Nutrition Research

Abstract

A healthy condition is defined by complex human metabolic pathways that only function properly when fully satisfied by nutritional inputs. Poor nutritional intakes are associated with a number of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and osteoporosis. In recent years, nutrition science has undergone an extraordinary transformation driven by the development of innovative software and analytical platforms. However, the complexity and variety of the chemical components present in different food types, and the diversity of interactions in the biochemical networks and biological systems, makes nutrition research a complicated field. Metabolomics science is an “-omic”, joining proteomics, transcriptomics, and genomics in affording a global understanding of biological systems. In this review, we present the main metabolomics approaches, and highlight the applications and the potential for metabolomics approaches in advancing nutritional food research.

Untargeted Metabolomic Profiling and Antioxidant Capacities of Different Solvent Crude Extracts of Ephedra foeminea

“…NMR is an inherently quantitative tool where the intensity of NMR signals is directly correlated with the concentration levels of detected molecules and the number of equivalent nuclei within the same molecule [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. It has been routinely used for identification and for structural elucidation of molecules in mixture samples such as natural product extracts [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. In this study, we divided the NMR spectrum into different regions associated with specific functional groups ( Figure 1 ) and measured the analytes through signal intensities and their linear relationship with analytes concentration (%).…”

Metabolomic Fingerprinting for the Detection of Early-Stage Lung Cancer: From the Genome to the Metabolome

“…In addition, as bisphenol A is poorly soluble in water, the presence in blood can result from high levels in drinking water [92]. Finally, it should be pointed out that a number of different factors need to be considered when undertaking metabolomic studies, including diet [110] and comorbidities [111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]. In this regard, obesity [111,112], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [113][114][115], kidney disease [116], diabetes [117,118], and cardiovascular disease [94] have all been reported to have a major impact on the metabolome that can confound metabolomic studies in cancer, and thus, their influence cannot be underestimated.…”

The NMR added value to the green foodomics perspective: Advances by machine learning to the holistic view on food and nutrition

“…Although low sensitivity is the main limitation of NMR spectroscopy, significant developments have been made to enhance the sensitivity, including microprobes, cryogenically cooled probes, and the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) approach. [1] The capability of NMR in foodomics has been largely documented in several research papers and reviews, above all in what concerns quality, traceability, and food safety. [18][19][20] NMR spectroscopy is particularly suitable for the investigation of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), as it allows the characterization and quantification of minor components, like phenolic bioactive compounds, and the preparation of the sample consists in just adding a few hundred microliters of deuterated chloroform directly to the oil.…”

“…Although low sensitivity is the main limitation of NMR spectroscopy, significant developments have been made to enhance the sensitivity, including microprobes, cryogenically cooled probes, and the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) approach. [ 1 ]…”

“…Nevertheless, a healthy‐eating renaissance is complicated by the three most great phenomena of these last years, which are market globalization, climate changes, and the most recent SARS‐CoV‐2 or COVID‐19 pandemic. [ 1 ] The latter raised the attention of consumers towards functional foods (FFs), enriched by bioactive compounds with immune‐boosting and functional properties. [ 2 ] From this point of view, food is considered an affordable way to prevent a broad range of diseases.…”