CHAPTER 9: NMR-based Metabolomics: Understanding Plant Chemistry and Identification of Biologically Active Compounds

Metabolomics is considered as an emerging technique for phytochemical analysis. This field is greatly explored to evaluate chemotaxonomy, stress induced metabolic alterations, quality of plant materials, and other related areas of either tissue analysis or single cell analysis. Although no single analytical tool is considered as a perfect option, NMR-based metabolomics (non-coupled or coupled with HPLC/MS etc.) is considered as a useful tool due to its reliability, reproducibility, robustness and non-destructive nature for samples. Omics-based systems biology is a promising approach for understanding and exploration of natural processes, but the present limitations require further development of the technologies, like single-cell, micro and nano metabolomics.