Targeted and Untargeted Metabolomic Profiling of Bioactive Compounds in Nigerian and United States Fermented and Unfermented Corn: Effects of Geographic Origin, Corn Colour, and Processing Conditions

Abstract

Two complementary LC-MS analyses were performed comparing fermented andunfermented corn samples of Nigerian and USA origin: 1. Untargeted LC-MS metabolomics. Five pairwise comparisons were performed: a. Fermentation White — USA White Fermented vs USA White Unfermented b. Fermentation Yellow — USA Yellow Fermented vs USA Yellow Unfermented c. Geography — Nigeria Fermented White vs USA Fermented White d. Colour Fermented — USA Yellow Fermented vs USA White Fermented e. Colour Unfermented — USA Yellow Unfermented vs USA White Unfermented 2. Targeted UHPLC–MS/MS quantification of 14 phenolic compounds by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM), across five fermented corn conditions only (Nigerian Fermented White Filtered, USA Fermented White Filtered, USA Fermented White Unfiltered, USA Fermented Yellow Filtered, USA Fermented Yellow Unfiltered). Unlike the untargeted survey, this panel does not include unfermented conditions.