Hands-on protocol for preparing water-soluble fractions from agri-food samples for NMR-based metabolomics analysis

Area of Science:

• Agri-food science
• Analytical chemistry
• Metabolomics

Background:

• Metabolomics, particularly nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based approaches, is crucial for understanding agri-food product composition and quality.
• A standardized protocol for preparing and analyzing water-soluble metabolites in the agri-food sector is currently lacking.
• Water-soluble primary metabolites like sugars, amino acids, and organic acids are vital indicators of food quality and processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reproducible workflow for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics in the agri-food sector.
• To optimize the preparation and analysis of water-soluble metabolite fractions from diverse agri-food matrices.
• To enhance the reliability and applicability of metabolomics for food quality, traceability, and safety assessments.

Main Methods:

• Development of a standardized protocol differentiating sample preparation for solid and liquid agri-food matrices.
• Optimization of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) acquisition parameters for water-soluble metabolite analysis.
• Application and validation of the workflow using representative agri-food samples: strawberry leaves (solid) and wine (liquid).

Main Results:

• A versatile and reproducible workflow for preparing and analyzing water-soluble metabolite fractions from solid and liquid agri-food samples was established.
• Optimized NMR acquisition and spectral quality control procedures ensured high data quality.
• Successful demonstration of the method's applicability on strawberry leaves and wine.

Conclusions:

• The proposed NMR-based metabolomics workflow significantly enhances reproducibility in agri-food studies.
• This standardized protocol facilitates the integration of metabolomics into food quality, traceability, and safety frameworks.
• The workflow provides a robust tool for comprehensive analysis of primary metabolites in the agri-food industry.