Table 5.

Comparisons of common analytical techniques in metabolomics.

	NMR	MS
Sample preparation	Simple and non-destructive	Complex and destructive
Sensitivity	Low	High
Resolution	Low	High
Repeatability	High	Low
Quantitative capability	Absolute quantification	Relative quantification
Qualitative capability	Accurate but limited databases	LC-MS: Relatively difficult and limited databases GC-MS: Relatively easy and robust databases

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