Metabolomic Profiling of Superfood Seeds in Bakery Products using a Benchtop GC Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

Around 20 years ago 'superfood' started to be used as a marketing tool for selling specific foods, dietary supplements and food additives. Although there is no exact definition of superfoods, one can be classified as food considered exceptionally good for one’s health and for boosting the immune system. In the past few years chia seeds became one of the most popular superfoods. As a result of the rapidly increasing demand for superfoods, the market is flooded with counterfeits. In bakery products more expensive chia seeds are often replaced by cheaper flaxseed.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the metabolomic profile of chia, flax and sesame seeds, looking for chemical markers, which allow the presence of such seeds in food products to be confirmed. The samples were analysed using a LECO Benchtop GC-Time-of-Flight Mass mass spectrometer. Different evaluation strategies were used for data processing.

By viewing this presentation you will learn:

• Sample prep protocols and GC-MS methodology for metabolomics applications
• Different screening approaches
• Data processing using various evaluation strategies.

Presenter: Dr Jürgen Wendt (Application Specialist, LECO European Application and Technology Center, Berlin, Germany)

Dr Wendt has years of experience working with various mass analyzers and a profound knowledge of the most common types of chromatography.