Metabolomics is one of the most recent OMICs sciences and considered one of the most complex. It aims to provide a comprehensive study of small molecules (metabolites) in a biological system to obtain insights of cellular processes and metabolic networks. For such purpose, several advanced analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry (MS) are employed to detect, identify, and even quantify metabolites.In this book chapter, we present the two main approaches (targeted and untargeted) used in metabolomics, as well as their individual advantages and limitations and their complementary strengths. As far as MS analytical techniques are concerned, both the various mass spectrometers and ionization sources, currently used for studying metabolites, are discussed, as well as the field of application linked to their performance.Lastly, recent advances made in exploring the different organisms through single-cell metabolomics as well as metabolomics data integration with other OMIC sciences are also discussed.
Maia et al. (Thu,) studied this question.