Table 1.

Comparison between the analytical techniques in metabolomics.

	Advantages	Disadvantages
NMR	Non-destructive;	Relatively poor sensitivity;
	High throughput;	Limited metabolites coverage
	Unbiased sample analysis
GC-MS	High sensitivity and specificity;	Requirement for derivatization
	Reproducibility;	Biased sample analysis (gasified and stable metabolites);
	Public database/libraries	Longer sample preparation time
LC-MS/MS	High sensitivity and specificity;	Sample needs to be ionized;
	Detecting semipolar, polar and high weight metabolites;	Poor for unknown metabolites identification;
	Reproducibility;	Local database dependence
	Nonessentials for derivatization;
	Wide metabolites coverage

NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; GC-MS, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; LC-MS/MS, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.