Mass spectrometry has developed into a platform for the assessment of health, sensory, quality and safety aspects of food. Current nutrition research focuses on unravelling the link between acute or chronic dietary and nutrient intake and the physiological effects at cellular, tissue and whole body level. The bioavailability and bioefficacy of food constituents and dose-effect correlations are key to understanding the impact of food on defined health outcomes. To generate this information, appropriate analytical tools are required to identify and quantify minute amounts of individual compounds in highly complex matrices (such as food or biological fluids) and to monitor molecular changes in the body in a highly specific and sensitive manner. Mass spectrometry has become the method of choice for such research and is now widely applied throughout all areas of nutrition research.

Mass Spectrometry and Nutrition Research focuses on the contribution of mass spectrometry to the advancement of nutrition research. Addressing researchers, students and teachers, this book has the double objective of introducing and inspiring nutritionists in the use of mass spectrometry, and convincing mass spectrometric scientists to develop and apply their tools to questions of nutrition and health. It addresses the major modern mass spectrometric techniques, reviews their application to the analysis of food macro- and micronutrients and assesses utility and potential of mass spectrometry in investigating nutritional health.

Content - Abbreviations, About the Editors, SECTION 1: MASS SPECTROMETRY TECHNOLOGIES, Chapter 1 Mass Spectrometry Technologies, SECTION 2: MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS OF FOOD INGREDIENTS, Chapter 2 Mass Spectrometry for Food Analysis: The Example of Fat Soluble Vitamins A and K, Chapter 3 Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Milk Oligosaccharides, Chapter 4 Mass Spectrometry in Protein, Peptide and Amino Acid Analysis, Chapter 5 Lipidomics and Metabolomics of Dictary Lipid Peroxidation, Chapter 6 Mass Spectrometry in Phytonutrient Research, SECTION 3: ADDRESSING THE HEALTH ASPECTS OF NUTRITION, Chapter 7 Addressing the Health Beneficial Aspects of Nutrition- The Example of the Obesity Epidemic, Chapter 8 Mass Spectrometry, Diet and Cariovascular Disease: What will They Mean for Food?, Chapter 9  Nutrition and Immunity, Chapter 10  Mass spectrometry, Nutrition and Protein Turnover, SECTION 4: CONCLUSION, Chapter 11 Conclusion, Subject Index