Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of the analysis technologies for metabolomics.

Metabolomic Technology	Advantage	Disadvantage
GC-MS	High sensitivity; Easy to operate; Economical; Search the unknown material spectrum library; Suitable for volatile and non–thermosenitive compounds.	The compound may change; Not suitable for less volatile compounds.
LC-MS	Suitable for metabolites with low volatility; Poor thermal stability and mixture analysis; High sensitivity; Wide range; Fast; Qualitative and quantitative analysis.	Poor ability to distinguish isomers and stereochemistry; Poor reproducibility; Strict operating conditions; Memory effects and ion sources contamination; Complex and expensive operation; Quality discrimination effect.
ES-MS	No special treatment for samples; Low dosage; Economical; Fast; High sensitivity; High-throughput; Short test time; Multiple modes.	Poor preparation ability; Low sensitivity in some detection methods; Low separation reproducibility.
MSI	No fluorescence or radioisotope labeling; Wide mass range; High-throughput; High efficiency; Spatial resolution; Molecular specificity.	New matrix development and its application is demanded in MALDI-MSI.
NMR	Non-destructive sample; Quantified directly; High NMR signal intensity isotopic natural abundance show extraordinarily narrow line widths; Broad (~200 ppm) chemical shift rane.	Magnetic nuclei only; Low sensitivity; A greater likelihood of overlapping peaks; Low sensitivity.