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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

NMR Spectroscopy as a Robust Tool for the Rapid Evaluation of the Lipid Profile of Fish Oil Supplements
Published on: May 1, 2017
Recent applications of NMR in food and dietary studies
Venkatesh Ramakrishnan1, Devanand L Luthria1
1Food Composition Methods Development Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA.
Abstract:
Over the last decade, a wide variety of new foods have been introduced into the global marketplace, many with health benefits that exceed those of traditional foods. Simultaneously, a wide range of analytical technologies has evolved that allow greater capability for the determination of food composition. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), traditionally a research tool used for structural elucidation, is now being used frequently for metabolomics and chemical fingerprinting. Its stability and inherent ease of quantification have been exploited extensively to identify and quantify bioactive components in foods and dietary supplements. In addition, NMR fingerprints have been used to differentiate cultivars, evaluate sensory properties of food and investigate the influence of growing conditions on food crops. Here we review the latest applications of NMR in food analysis. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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