Applicability of high-resolution NMR in combination with chemometrics for the compositional analysis and quality control of spices and plant-derived condiments.

Over the last years, the consumption of spices and plant-derived condiments has increased considerably, owing to new culinary trends. Unfortunately, the current marketing channels make them highly vulnerable to adulteration and food fraud. High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool for the compositional study of spices and plant-derived condiments. It allows the chemical characterization of a wide range of polar and non-polar metabolites, and provides unique structural information not available by other techniques. The chemometric-based analysis of NMR 'fingerprints' has been used to discriminate samples according to species and geographical origin and to detect adulterations, among other applications. The comprehensive identification and quantification of marker compounds can be achieved even in complex mixtures, demonstrating a great potential for high-throughtput quality control applications. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.