Logo of the Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

Information System for Agriculture and Food Research

Information platform of the Federal and State Governments

Food Metabolome: Development of methods and characterisation of plant derived foods

Project

Food and consumer protection

This project contributes to the research aim 'Food and consumer protection'. Which funding institutions are active for this aim? What are the sub-aims? Take a look:
Food and consumer protection


Project code: MRI-OG-08-54401Metabolomics1
Contract period: 01.01.2014 - 31.12.2017
Purpose of research: Applied research

Foods are complex mixtures comprising many different compounds which form, in their entirety, the metabolite profile. The composition of the metabolite profile can have several repercussions, for example with respect to storability, processing, resistance against pathogens, the nutritional value or consumer safety. Therefore, the acquisition of a broad knowledge about the composition of foods is important in several aspects. Only untargeted analysis methods enable an efficient and unbiased coverage of the metabolite profile of foods. For that purpose, the comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC×GC-MS) is especially suitable because of their separation performance and sensitivity. In recent years, a GC×GC-MS platform as well as an automated workflow for the processing of the large data has been established at the MRI Karlsruhe and success-fully used for the analysis of human and plant matrices. The aim of this research program is to refine and optimize the platform. Firstly, an adaptation of the analytical method for the analysis of foods not analysed so far and the development of food-specific sampling and sample preparation procedures are necessary. Secondly, the profiling method has to be expanded to volatile organic compounds and complemented by targeted methods for the selective analysis of specific compounds classes. The optimized and extended platform will finally be used for a comprehensive characterization of the metabolite profiles of selected important foods, focusing on specific questions concerning the safety and quality of plant-derived foods. In addition, the impact of the consumption of specific foods on the human metabolism will be investigated. To broaden the analytical coverage of the metabolite profile, the application of further analytical methods like LC-MS and NMR will be aspired in cooperation with university partners.

Within the scope of the KiwiInfo project, the changes in the metabolite profile of kiwi fruits during maturation were investigated. Because kiwi fruits contain sugars in very different concentrations which are furthermore hard to separate by chromatography, different methods were developed to enable the quantification of the abundant main sugars as well as the also relevant minor sugars. This enabled a differentiated assessment of the concentration changes of sugars and other compounds during maturation of kiwi fruits (data not yet published).

 

show more show less

Subjects

Framework programme

BMEL Frameworkprogramme 2008

Advanced Search