Chapter 14: Metabolomics and the Measurement of Antioxidant Behavior

Metabolomics is seen by some as an emerging research field while others regard it as an established field. It aims to comprehensively characterize all small molecules within a biological sample. Metabolomics is underpinned by analytical chemistry and both targeted and untargeted approaches are used. Metabolomics is used widely in the search for biomarkers, be that of dietary food consumption or disease states, where knowledge of oxidative status is critical. The use of traditional measurements of antioxidant activity may be a useful precursor for more comprehensive metabolomics analysis, and bio-guided activity fractionation of extracts may be useful. The promise and power of metabolomics for the identification of novel bioactives and improved understanding of the mechanisms associated with oxidative diseases are immense, however, dealing with significant quantities of complex data remains challenging. This chapter examines these aspects of metabolomics as they relate to antioxidant species and provides details that can help readers avoid many of the pitfalls in current analyses.