Table 1.
Comparison of different metabolite measurements.
| Metabolomic technology | NMR | GC-MS | LC-MS | CE-MS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sensitivity | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Throughput | ✓ | ○ | ✓ | ○ |
| Reproducibility | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Selectivity | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ○ |
| Quantitative ability | ✓ | ○ | ✓ | ○ |
| Separation performance | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ○ |
| Destructive sampling | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Minimal sample preparation | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Requirement of concentration/purity | ✓ | ○ | ○ | ✗ |
| Derivatization | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| For specific metabolites | ○ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wide range | ✗ | ○ | ✓ | ○ |
| Economic | ✓ | ○ | ○ | ✓ |
NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance; GC-MS, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; LC-MS, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; CE-MS, capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry; ✓ = yes or high; ✗ = no or low; ○ = neither ✓ nor ✗.