A Versatile Targeted Metabolomics Method for the Rapid Quantification of Multiple Classes of Phenolics in Fruits and Beverages

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 60; no. 36; pp. 8831 - 8840
• Main Authors: Vrhovsek, Urska, Masuero, Domenico, Gasperotti, Mattia, Franceschi, Pietro, Caputi, Lorenzo, Viola, Roberto, Mattivi, Fulvio
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 12-09-2012
• Subjects: apples; benzoates; Biological and medical sciences; Camellia sinensis - chemistry; chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; coumarins; Food industries; food quality; Fruit - chemistry; Fruit - metabolism; Fruit and vegetable industries; fruits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; green tea; metabolomics; Metabolomics - methods; Phenols - chemistry; Phenols - metabolism; phenylpropanoids; rapid methods; red wines; small fruits; stilbenes; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; Tea - chemistry; polyphenols; mass spectrometry; metabolite profiling; food analysis; UPLC/QqQ-MS/MS; Fruit; Metabolite; Method; Polyphenol; Phenols; Beverage; Mass spectrometry; Food; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf2051569

Compelling evidence of the health benefits of phenolic compounds and their impact on food quality have stimulated the development of analytical methods for the identification and quantification of these compounds in different matrices in recent years. A targeted metabolomics method has been developed for the quantification of 135 phenolics, such as benzoates, phenylpropanoids, coumarins, stilbenes, dihydrochalcones, and flavonoids, in fruit and tea extracts and wine using UPLC/QqQ-MS/MS. Chromatography was optimized to achieve separation of the compounds over a period of 15 min, and MRM transitions were selected for accurate quantification. The method was validated by studying the detection and quantification limits, the linearity ranges, and the intraday and interday repeatability of the analysis. The validated method was applied to the analysis of apples, berries, green tea, and red wine, providing a valuable tool for food quality evaluation and breeding studies.