Mass spectrometry in plant metabolomics strategies: from analytical platforms to data acquisition and processing.

Covering: up to 2013. Plant metabolomics is a relatively recent research field that has gained increasing interest in the past few years. Up to the present day numerous review articles and guide books on the subject have been published. This review article focuses on the current applications and limitations of the modern mass spectrometry techniques, especially in combination with electrospray ionisation (ESI), an ionisation method which is most commonly applied in metabolomics studies. As a possible alternative to ESI, perspectives on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) in metabolomics studies are introduced, a method which still is not widespread in the field. In metabolomics studies the results must always be interpreted in the context of the applied sampling procedures as well as data analysis. Different sampling strategies are introduced and the importance of data analysis is illustrated in the example of metabolic network modelling.