Chromatographic Fingerprinting and Food Identity/Quality: Potentials and Challenges

Chromatograms are a valuable source of information about the chemical composition of the food being analyzed. Sometimes, this information is not explicit and appears in a hidden or not obvious way. Thus, the use of chemometric tools and data-mining methods to extract it is required. The fingerprint provided by a chromatogram offers the possibility to perform both identity and quality testing of foodstuffs. This perspective is aimed at providing an updated opinion of chromatographic fingerprinting methodology in the field of food authentication. Furthermore, the limitations, its absence in official analytical methods, and the future directions of this methodology are discussed.