Foods contain a vast amount of metabolites; approximately 25,000 metabolites originating from foods have been identified. Consequently, analyses covering a wide range of metabolites are of great interest in food and nutrition research, where we aim to decipher the links between food constituents and foods’ health-promoting potential. Additionally, in primary food production there is an utmost need for efficient analyses to explore and identify the effects of production factors, pre- and postharvest handling, and slaughter procedures on foods’ attributes. Likewise, in food processing and manufacturing, it is essential to monitor changes in the content of intrinsic metabolites or metabolites generated during processing and/or through the addition of ingredients.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the analytical technique that has grounded the metabolomics discipline. The nonselectively of ¹H NMR spectroscopy makes it a unique tool for metabolomics approaches of an explorative nature. Furthermore, NMR spectroscopy has gained popularity in food science, where it finds many relevant applications for scrutinizing a variety of complex foods based on both ¹H NMR spectroscopy and a variety of other nuclei, including, among others, ¹³C and ³¹P spectroscopy.

This Special Issue highlights and embraces an analysis of foods using NMR-based metabolomics techniques. Current challenges for NMR-based metabolomics studies of foods include sample preparation methodologies for solid, semisolid, and liquid phase analyses; sensitivity and dynamic range optimization; the development of strategies to overcome overlapping signals; quantification, including the development of automated processes; data handling; the development of real-time monitoring approaches; as well as development of methods for authenticity purposes.

Prof. Dr. Hanne Christine Bertram
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.