Review on proteomics for food authentication.

UNLABELLED: Consumers have the right to know what is in the food they are eating. Accordingly, European and global food regulations require that the provenance of the food can be guaranteed from farm to fork. Many different instrumental techniques have been proposed for food authentication. Although traditional methods are still being used, new approaches such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are helping to complement existing methodologies for verifying the claims made about certain food products. During the last decade, proteomics (the large-scale analysis of proteins in a particular biological system at a particular time) has been applied to different research areas within food technology. Since proteins can be used as markers for many properties of a food, even indicating processes to which the food has been subjected, they can provide further evidence of the foods labeling claim. This review is a comprehensive and updated overview of the applications, drawbacks, advantages, and challenges of proteomics for food authentication in the assessment of the foods compliance with labeling regulations and policies. SIGNIFICANCE: This review paper provides a comprehensive and critical overview of the application of proteomics approaches to determine the authenticity of several food products updating the performances and current limitations of the applied techniques in both laboratory and industrial environments.