Food Metabolomics

Foods contain not only nutrients but also a wide variety of components related to flavor and functionality. Many studies have been conducted on the components of foods. Quantitative analysis has been used to assess compounds in food such as sugars, amino acids, and organic acids for food flavor; carotenoids and anthocyanins for appearance and color; and vitamins related to functionality for human health. Plants and animals that are food materials are thought to contain hundreds to thousands of compounds. Recent improvements in analytical technologies have made it possible to detect a large number of compounds simultaneously using metabolomics, a comprehensive analysis technology for low-molecular-weight compounds, and its application to food analysis has been reported. Food metabolomics has the potential to identify compounds related to flavor and functionality that have not been reported in previous studies; moreover, it is expected to add value to the target foods. By integrating the results of sensory evaluation, animal experiments, and other experiments with metabolomic data and providing them for analysis using informatics, such as artificial intelligence, it may be possible to derive more accurate evaluations of food quality.