Table 1.

Major characteristics of NMR, GC-MS, and LC-MS techniques used in metabolomics.

Technique	Major Strengths	Major Limitations	Major Detectable Compounds
GC-MS	Efficient and reproducible chromatography separation Comprehensive mass spectral libraries	Labor-intensive, time-consuming and varying sample preparation procedure Complicated identification of unknown compounds	Volatile and thermo-stable compound Carbohydrates Esters Sterols Steroids Eicosanoids Fatty acids Aminoacids Organic acids Nucleotides and nucleosides Lipids Non-volatile and thermo-labile compounds
LC-MS	Broad range of compounds (including polar, bulky, and thermo-labile metabolites) can be analyzed without derivatization High throughput	Possibility of ion aberrations resulting from a sample matrix Lack of spectral libraries for identification of metabolites
NMR	Non-destructive analysis High reproducibility Simple or even absent sample preparation	Low sensitivity Relatively high sample volume High cost of apparatus	Carbohydrates Amines Aminoacids and organic acids Bulky molecules