📋 Workflow
Full workflow, products add-to-cart directly1
Metabolite quench and extraction
1 hRapidly quench cells/tissue, extract metabolites by organic solvent protein precipitation
💡 Tip Quench fast to stop metabolism
⚠️ Caution Spike internal standards
🧪 Materials for this step (click to shop by spec/brand)
2
Separation and MS detection
HoursSeparate/identify metabolites by LC-MS in both polarities or NMR
💡 Tip Both polarities broaden coverage
⚠️ Caution Stable runs prevent retention drift
🧪 Materials for this step (click to shop by spec/brand)
3
Data processing and peak alignment
2 hPerform peak detection, alignment and normalization to generate feature table
💡 Tip Proper normalization reduces bias
⚠️ Caution Remove missing/outlier values
🧪 Materials for this step (click to shop by spec/brand)
4
Differential metabolites and pathway analysis
1 dayScreen differential metabolites by PCA/OPLS-DA, perform pathway enrichment and metabolite identification
💡 Tip Annotate and confirm with standards
⚠️ Caution Confirm uncertain identities
🧪 Materials for this step (click to shop by spec/brand)
⚠️ 5 Common Beginner Mistakes
- ① Non-standard extraction biases quantification
- ② Delayed quench degrades metabolites
- ③ Retention drift misaligns features
- ④ Batch effects confound differences
- ⑤ Insufficient identification causes errors
❓ FAQ
+Targeted vs untargeted metabolomics?
Untargeted scans unknowns broadly; targeted precisely quantifies known metabolites.
+How to identify unknown metabolites?
Match retention/spectra to standards, confirm with databases and MS/MS.
+Why both polarities?
Metabolites ionize better in one polarity; both modes widen coverage.