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. 2021 Feb 10;16(2):e0246456. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246456

Table 3. Promising food biomarker candidates (n = 7,012).

Food
group
Metabolite Sub
Classa
PLS-Rb rsd
VIP Coeff Q2cumc
Meat          
  Hydroxyproline AA 2.66 0.07 0.07 0.09
  3-Methylhistidine AA 2.11 0.06 0.08
  beta-Alanine AA 2.05 0.05 0.04
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 2.01 0.05 0.05
  Creatine AA 1.99 0.06 0.05
  Carnitine AA 1.7 0.04 0.03
Fish/seafood          
  Creatine AA 3.19 0.1 0.21 0.18
  Trimethylamine-N-oxide AO 2.63 0.09 0.15
  Cystine AA 2.26 0.07 0.12
  2-Hydroxybutyrate AA 1.73 0.04 0.11
  Isethionate AHA 1.55 0.03 0.08
  Glucuronate CHO 1.43 0.04 0.13
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 1.36 0.03 0.07
  Uridine PN 1.32 0.03 0.06
  Guanidinosuccinate AA 1.21 0.02 0.07
Eggs          
  Choline QA 2.88 0.05 0.01 0.06
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 2.4 0.04 -0.02 0.04
  Betaine AA 2.14 0.04   0.05
  Asparagine AA 1.66 0.02   0.02
Dairy          
  Galactarate CHO 2.14 0.08 0.33 0.09
  Threonate CHO 1.97 0.07 0.09
  Phenylalanine AA 1.95 0.08 0.08
  Lysine AA 1.6 0.04 0.05
  Tyrosine AA 1.53 0.04 0.02
  Citrate TCA 1.47 0.07 0.07
  Tryptophan AA 1.44 0.02 0.03
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 1.31 0.05 0.07
  Hippurate BA 1.27 0.05 0.08
  Creatine AA 1.24 0.03 0.02
Soy products          
  Cystine AA 1.73 0.07 0.23 0.08
  Betaine AA 1.53 0.06 0.07
  Isethionate TCA 1.34 0.02 0.09
  Creatine AA 1.34 0.05 0.08
  Uridine PN 1.3 0.04 0.06
  Citrate AA 1.25 0.04 0.06
  Phenylalanine AA 1.25 0.03 -0.02
  Glutamine AA 1.25 0.04 0.05
  - - - -   -
  - - - -   -
  - - - -   -
Food
group
Metabolite Sub
Classa
PLS-Rb rsd
Carotenoide-rich vegetables        
  Threonate CHO 2.23 0.07 0.28 0.09
  Galactarate CHO 2.06 0.06 0.07
  Creatine AA 1.8 0.06 0.05
  Lysine AA 1.44 0.02 0.03
  Cystine AA 1.4 0.04 0.07
  Citrate TCA 1.33 0.04 0.06
  Hippurate BA 1.29 0.04 0.07
Other vegetables          
  Creatine AA 2 0.07 0.31 0.05
  Threonate CH 1.85 0.05 0.06
  Galactarate CH 1.51 0.04 0.02
  Cystine AA 1.4 0.04 0.06
Fruits          
  Proline betaine AA 3.8 0.23 0.47 0.27
  Threonate CHO 2.3 0.09 0.15
  Galactarate CHO 1.95 0.07 0.11
  Tyrosine AA 1.49 0.03 0
  Lysine AA 1.43 0.02 0.03
  Cystine AA 1.29 0.04 0.06
  Creatine AA 1.29 0.06 0.04
  Citrate TCA 1.21 0.05 0.06
Green tea          
  Threonate CHO 3.54 0.06 0.05 0.11
  Galactarate CHO 3.15 0.06 0.08
  Cystine AA 1.93 0.04 0.07
  Creatine AA 1.87 0.03 0.06
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 1.74 0.03 0.06
  Trimethylamine-N-oxide AO 1.71 0.03 0.07
  Proline betaine AA 1.68 0.03 0.05
  2-Hydroxybutyrate AA 1.29 0.02 0.06
Coffee          
  Quinate ALC 4.59 0.29 0.55 0.39
  Trigonelline AL 3.13 0.17 0.28
  Hippurate BA 1.88 0.07 0.17
  Leucine AA 1.34 0.02 0.01
Alcohole          
  Pipecolate AA 2.78 0.17 0.53 0.26
  2-Aminobutyrate AA 1.92 0.12 0.17
  Choline QA 1.87 0.09 0.15
  Threonine AA 1.65 0.09 0.1
  Carnitine AA 1.41 0.07 0.09
  Tyrosine AA 1.34 0.06 0.08
  Malate BHA 1.3 0.08 0.14
  Creatine AA 1.24 0.04 0.09

PLS-R, partial least square regression; VIP, variable importance in projection; AA, amino acids, peptides, and analogs; CHO, carbohydrates and carbohydrate conjugates; AO, aminoxides; AHA, alpha-hydroxy acids and derivatives; PN, pyrimidine nucleosides; QA, quaternary ammonium salts; TCA, tricarboxylic acids and derivatives; BA, benzoic acids and derivatives; ALC, alcohols and polyols, and polyols; BHA, beta-hydroxy acids and derivatives.

a Reference: The Human Metabolome Database (https://hmdb.ca).

b Metabolites which indicate VIP scores ≥ 1.2 and positive PLS coefficients ≥ 0.02 are shown.

c Cumulative predicted variation in the Y matrix for optimal factor numbers, calculated as 1 –(the cumulative predicted residual sum of squares / the cumulative sum of squares). The value indicates the predictive performance of the model. For cases with an optimal factor number of less than two, the factor number was set to two and the result was shown in parentheses.

d Partial rank-order Spearman’s correlation coefficients between food consumption and metabolite concentration, controlling for sex, smoking, and physical activity levels.

e Data of male drinkers (n = 2,449) were used in the analysis.