- Course overview
- Search within this course
- What is metabolomics?
- The metabolome and metabolic reactions
- The importance of metabolomics
- Metabolomics resources at EMBL-EBI
- Summary
- Metabolomics quiz
- Your feedback
- Learn more
- References
All materials are free cultural works licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, except where further licensing details are provided.
Comparison of NMR and MS
The two most common techniques used in data acquisition are nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. Table 1 shows some of the key differences between the two techniques.
| Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) | Mass spectrometry (MS) | |
| Sensitivity | Low | High |
| Reproducibility | Very high | Average |
| Number of detectable metabolites | 30-100 | 300-1000+ (depending on whether GC-MS or LC-MS is used) |
| Targeted analysis | Not optimal for targeted analysis | Better for targeted analysis than NMR |
| Sample preparation | Minimal sample preparation required | More complex sample preparation required |
| Tissue extraction | Not required – tissues can be analysed directly | Requires tissue extraction |
| Sample analysis time | Fast – the entire sample can be analysed in one measurement | Longer than NMR – requires different chromatography techniques depending on the metabolites analysed |
| Instrument Cost | More expensive and occupies more space than MS | Cheaper and occupies less space than NMR |
| Sample Cost | Low cost per sample | High cost per sample |