Mass spectrometry: principles and instrumentation

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become the major analytic technology, with the biggest market share and the fastest growth rate as it offers important advantages, namely, sensitivity and specificity of detection, analyte structural information, and (potentially) unambiguous detection and quantitation of analytes. MS is the method of choice for a series of analyses required by regulatory authorities and the industrial sector, and most importantly, it is considered the workhorse in the development of novel methods. The article describes the basics of MS and applications in the analysis of foods in targeted and untargeted mode (metabolomics).