Abstract: Food authenticity assessment and variety identification are crucial for ensuring food safety and protecting consumer rights. Traditional analytical techniques provide qualitative and quantitative information on target compounds, forming an essential technical foundation for quality control. With the increasing demand for comprehensive analysis, the spatial distribution of target compounds in foods has become a key focus in food research and quality evaluation. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), with its wide detection range, high sensitivity, high spatial resolution, and label-free characteristics, enables in situ visualization of the spatial distribution of lipids, proteins, sugars, and other molecules in foods. This technology offers a new analytical dimension for food authenticity verification and variety assessment. This review systematically summarizes the innovative application of MALDI-MSI in food science, highlighting its advantages in authenticity discrimination, variety tracing, and quality monitoring through case studies on various food types, including fruits, vegetables, grains, oils, and substances with both medicinal and culinary uses. Finally, the potential of MALDI-MSI in enhancing food safety supervision is discussed, emphasizing its critical role in food safety evaluation.

Key words: matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging; authenticity assessment; varietal identification; food safety; in situ analysis