Molecular fingerprinting of food authenticity

•Food authentication requires identification of specific markers or metabolite profiling.•NMR spectroscopy is a proper tool for molecular fingerprinting of authenticity.•Innovative NMR applications for food authentication are reported.

In recent decades, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has become an important tool for monitoring food authenticity thought the identification of specific markers or entire metabolite profiling. NMR methodology has been widely applied to the study of the impact of the different factors (genetic background, geographical origin, adulteration, etc.) on food metabolite composition. In this review, several significant NMR-based results in authenticity control are discussed reporting examples of different types of foodstuff.