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A typical result of LC-MS analysis of a metabolic extract is shown in the chromatogram below (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Click to enlarge. A typical chromatogram of a tomato fruit secondary metabolite extract obtained by LC-MS analysis. Individual metabolites of the extract are separated in a chromatographic column and detected by a mass spectrometer at the end of the column. This makes metabolites to look like peaks along the retention time scale. The height (or area) of each peak is proportional to the number of molecules detected by the mass spectrometer for a corresponding metabolite, or in other words it shows the concentration of this metabolite in the extract. For each metabolite peak the mass spectrometer detects a mass of the corresponding molecules. E.g. a peak at 24.26 min consists of 26,030 molecules with an average mass 609.1342 Da (Dalton).
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