Assessment of fruit juice authenticity using UPLC-QToF MS: a metabolomics approach

In recent years, with the growing complexity of global food supply chains and trade, food fraud, including adulteration of high value foods with cheaper substitutes, has become an increasingly important issue. A metabolomics approach can be applied to discover biomarkers that can be used to trace food adulteration. A study was undertaken to discover novel, potential biomarkers for the rapid detection of the adulteration of fruit juices with cheaper alternatives. Pineapple, orange, grapefruit, apple, clementine, and pomelo were investigated. Untargeted metabolite fingerprinting was performed by UPLC-QToF MS with multivariate data analysis. Twenty-one differential metabolites were selected, contributing to the separation between pineapple, orange and grapefruit juices, and their admixtures down to 1% adulteration level. A targeted metabolomics method was then optimised and adulteration could be detected at 1%. The results demonstrate that metabolomics has potential as a screening tool for the rapid detection of food adulteration.