FoodComEx, a new chemical library for rare food-derived compounds

The lack of commercial standards for food-derived metabolites is a major limitation in nutritional metabolomics. FoodComEx (Food Compound Exchange) is a new chemical library initiated in the FoodBAll (Food Biomarkers Alliance) project (http://foodmetabolome.org) to facilitate the sharing of not easily accessible standards for food compounds and their human metabolites. FoodComEX (http://foodcomex.org/) will be a virtual library, with compounds stored in the laboratory where they have been isolated or synthesized. Version 1.0 will be an online catalog of pure compounds and reference materials (food extracts, biofluids from animals fed pure compounds, incubation media from in vitro systems to produce metabolites, etc.) made available by FoodBAll partners and associated collaborators. Each compound will appear with its elemental formula, monoisotopic mass, solubility, origin, purity, available quantity, storage conditions, stability, links to existing databases, type of spectral data available and contact details of the laboratory offering to share the standard. In the final version, which should be available at the end of 2016, spectral data (GC-MS, LC-MS, NMR, UV, IR) will be made searchable online. Anyone interested in one compound will directly contact the provider. A bilateral negotiation will define the terms of collaboration, within the rules defined in a charter of good practices. For example, the acquirer will have to share the spectral analyses acquired on his own analytical platform. This will continuously enrich the content of the chemical library. FoodComEx is a collaborative initiative widely open to new contributors and users. Anyone interested to contribute can contact us