MALDI-TOF MS: Applications in Dairy and Related Sectors

MALDI-TOF MS is a soft ionization technique suitable for analysis of peptides, proteins, glycoproteins, oligosaccharides and oligonucleotides etc. In dairy sector, it can be used to analyze milk proteins, to identify adulteration in milk, isolation of phospholipids, characterization of proteins and enzymes of the microorganisms used in manufacture of cheese and other fermented products. In food industry, it can be used for evaluation and determination of fructo-oligosaccharides, inulins, certain pigments and flavor compounds present in different foods. This technique has found applications in a variety of disciplines including proteomics, glycomics, dairy, food, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and physics. The purpose of this review is to summarize the contribution of the studies already performed with MALDI-TOF MS concerning dairy and related sectors. Keywords: MALDI-TOF, detector, mass analyser, laser, reflectron, spectrum, ionisation