In addition to preservation, food fermentation also improves digestibility. The potential health benefits, in addition to the nutritional properties, have been widely reported in the literature. Fermented and non-fermented dairy products are no exception, and metabolomic studies are helping us to better understand the effects of digestion on the metabolism.
The characterisation of volatile compounds (the “volatilome”) in biological fluids offers a distinct approach to study the metabolic imprint of foods on the human metabolome, particularly to identify novel biomarkers of food intake that are not captured by classic metabolomic techniques. [1-2]
Conventional headspace extraction techniques such as solid phase microextraction (SPME) for volatile compounds from a biological matrix are not suitable for a very small sample volumes and often require a long extraction time, with the risk of damaging the integrity of the matrix through the formation of significant artifacts.
In order to optimize the extraction of volatile compounds from biological fluids such as urine or serum/plasma, an efficient and rapid technique based on the Dynamic Headspace In-Tube Extraction (DHS-ITEX) hardware was developed and patented by Agroscope. We obtained a significant enhancement in extraction rate and capacity by operating DHS-ITEX under reduced pressure, called Dynamic Headspace Vacuum-ITEX. The results of the study indicate that DHS-V-ITEX improves the extraction of the target compounds. The area of the mass spectrometer signal for each compound can be up to 450 times more intense than the HS-SPME and HS-ITEX techniques performed under similar conditions of extraction temperature and time. In addition, the lifetime of an ITEX trap is up to 100 times longer than an SPME fibre. [3]
The analytical results obtained on the volatilome provide complementary and unique information for a better understanding of the metabolome after dairy intake. In addition to the effect of fermentation, biological factors such as age, gender and health status influence the identified biological markers.
Literature:
[1] P. Fuchsmann et al., J. Proteome Res. 2020, 19, 10, 4019–4033
[2] H.Y. Meng et al., J. Proteome Res. 2023, 22, 4, 1201-1212
[3] P. Fuchsmann et al., J.Chromatogr.A. 2019, 1601, 60-70
