4 Applications of MSI in food science
Various components, such as carbohydrates, lipids, antioxidants, phytochemicals, amino acids, peptides, and proteins, as well as minerals, are directly associated with the nutritional and organoleptic value of our food. As shown in Table 2, the use of MSI for mapping food composition provides additional dimensionality—spatio-chemical and temporal–to improve our understanding of food metabolomics. Furthermore, visualization of the distribution of food additives and contaminants will significantly aid us in monitoring the potential risk factors associated with unknown or known contaminants in food. Several applications of MSI in food science are listed in Table 2, and a few examples, organized by chemical class and associated with food safety and quality, are briefly reviewed here.