Table 7.1.

Overview of the metabolome coverage of the main analytical techniques

Analytical technique	Metabolome coverage	Compound requirements	Polarity	Examples
GC-MS	Low	Thermostable compounds with acidic H or volatiles	High–mid	Amino acids, small organic acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, terpenes, cholesterol derivatives
LC-MS	High	Soluble compounds	Depending on column	Amino acids, oligopeptides, small organic acids, carbohydrates, phosphate compounds nucleosides, lipids, nucleotides, carnitines
CE-MS	Medium	Charged compounds	Only polar	Amino acids, oligopeptides, small organic acids, phosphate compounds nucleosides, nucleotides, carnitines
1H-NMR	Low	Abundant compounds with non-exchangeable protons	–	Small organic acids, carbohydrates, amino acids
31P-NMR	Low	Abundant phosphorus-containing compounds	–	Nucleotides, nucleosides, polyphosphate, phosphate enzyme cofactors, sugar phosphates