Metabolomic Signatures of Commercial Ready-to-Drink Beverages by Dual-Mode Untargeted LC-MS/MS.

Background

The rapid expansion of functional ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages-formulated with prebiotic fibers, botanical extracts, and reduced sugar-has outpaced systematic characterization of their small-molecule composition.

Methods

We applied dual-mode untargeted high-resolution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), integrating hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) and reversed-phase C18 separations, to profile five commercial RTD beverages spanning distinct formulation categories: Coca-Cola®, Poppi® Orange, OLIPOP® Cream Soda, Pure Leaf® Unsweetened Black Tea, and BeePop™ Peach + Orange Blossom Honey.

Results

Across all products, 478 compounds were structurally annotated at Metabolomics Standards Initiative (MSI) Levels 1 and 2, of which 42 matched compounds with reported bioactivity in a curated literature-based reference database. Seventeen compounds-including the NAD+ precursor trigonelline and multiple B vitamins-were detected across all five products. The number and diversity of compounds with reported bioactivity varied substantially by product and correlated with botanical ingredient complexity.

Conclusions

This work presents a qualitative molecular survey of the RTD beverage category using standardized, dual-mode untargeted metabolomics, providing a reference dataset for future targeted quantitation studies.