Non-Targeted Analysis of Metabolites in Alcoholic Beverages Using LC-QTOFMS

Introduction

Metabolomics, a technique that analyzes metabolites in living organisms, is increasingly being applied in the food industry for product development and quality control. A particularly powerful approach is non-targeted metabolomics, which aims to analyze not only known metabolites but also unknown compounds without prior assumptions to reveal unexpected chemical differences between samples. Quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOFMS), with its accurate-mass capability, is well suited for this purpose. However, the large volume of generated data creates challenges for feature identification and data comparison. This poster presents a case study of analyzing compounds in various beverages, primarily beer, using the non-targeted analysis software. Using this, we performed peak detection, alignment, and library searching across multiple data sets. Analysis of peaks showing differences between samples confirmed that these profiles were based on the raw materials and manufacturing methods.

September 8, 2026 GMT