Measurement of Lipid Oxidation in Foods and Selected Biological Systems Using LC-MS/MS-Based Lipidomics

Abstract

Lipid oxidation is an important factor affecting food quality and oxidative stability, but conventional oxidation indices provide limited information on individual oxidation products and changes in lipid species. This review focuses on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based approaches for lipid oxidation analysis and their applications in food and selected biological systems. LC-MS/MS provides molecular-level information on individual oxidation products and oxidized lipid species; however, its analytical reliability can be affected by hydroperoxide instability, matrix effects, limited availability of authentic standards, and variability in data processing and lipid annotation. The analytical characteristics of hydroperoxides, aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, organic acids, hydrocarbons, and oxidized complex lipids are described together with the advantages and limitations of LC-MS/MS analysis. In addition, this review compares targeted analysis with untargeted and pseudotargeted lipidomics and discusses their applications to edible oils, meat, emulsions, and oleosomes. The use of lipidomics in selected biological systems and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted lipid analysis is also discussed. Therefore, combining validated targeted analysis and lipidomics with conventional oxidation indices may provide a more reliable and comprehensive evaluation of lipid oxidation.