Chiral analysis in food science

Determination of enantiomeric ratios in food and beverages is a research area of great interest because enantiomers can exhibit different biological activities. Chiral analysis can provide valuable information about food safety, bioactivity, quality and traceability. In this work, the potential of separation techniques such as liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, supercritical fluid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis for chiral analysis of food is reviewed. The analysis of enantiomers based on other chiral methodologies such as countercurrent chromatography, sensors, biosensors and direct mass spectrometry (MS) analysis is also included. The present review article provides an updated perspective on the importance of chiral analysis in food matrices and beverages covering the period from February 2017 to July 2019, following the previous work published in this journal on the same topic (G. D'Orazio et al., TrAC-Trends in Analytical Chemistry 96 (2017) 151–171). •Updated perspective on the importance of chiral analysis in food and beverages.•Recent chromatographic methods using a broad range of chiral stationary phases.•Chiral methods based on sensors, biosensors and direct MS analysis also covered.•Relevant applications for food safety, bioactivity, quality and traceability.