ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the basic principles of the technique, and give examples where this method has been applied to metabolomics in plants. Middle-Fourier Transformed-InfraRed (MID-FT-IR) spectroscopy is a high-throughput approach that consists of a rapid classification of samples that gives a snapshot of the metabolic composition of tissues which have been subjected to any given experimental condition. MID-FT-IR spectroscopy is a method that measures the vibrations of the atomic molecular bonds within functional groups, and that generates a frequency spectrum that can be regarded as a biochemical or metabolic fingerprint. MID-FT-IR was used in the study of the biochemical modification occurring in tomato fruits growing in saline conditions and to determine the metabolic discrimination between different tomato varieties. MID-FT-IR spectra were acquired from ground whole leaf tissue. In conclusion, MID-FT-IR can be considered as a sensitive method for the qualitative and also quantitative detection of changes in highly complex biological samples.
