Mass spectral analysis of secondary metabolites from Zingiber montanum rhizome extract using UHPLC-HR-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS

Comparative metabolomic profiling and nutritional chemistry of Chenopodium quinoa of diverse panicle architecture and agroecological zones

Chenopodium quinoa possesses remarkable nutritional value and adaptability to various agroecological conditions. Panicle architecture influences the number of spikelets and grains in a panicle, ultimately leading to productivity and yield. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the metabolites, nutrients, and minerals in Chenopodium quinoa accessions of varying panicle architecture. Metabolic profiling using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis identified seventeen metabolites, including flavonoids, phenolics, fatty acids, terpenoids, phenylbutenoid dimers, amino acids, and saccharides. Eight metabolic compounds were reported in this study for the first time in quinoa. Some metabolites were detected as differentially expressed. The compound (Z)-1-(2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) butadiene and chrysin were found only in SPrecm. Sodium ((2R,3S,4R,5R)-5-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)-3,4-dihydroxtetrahydrofuran-2-yl) methyl hydrogen phosphate and elenolic acid were detected only in CHEN-33, and quercetin, 3-hydroxyphloretin-3'-C-glucoside, kurarinone, and rosmarinic acid were identified only in D-12175. Variable importance in projection (VIP) scores annotated ten metabolites contributing to variability. Mineral analysis using atomic absorption spectrophotometry indicated that the quantity of magnesium and calcium is high in D-12175. In comparison, SPrecm showed a high quantity of magnesium compared to CHEN-33, while CHEN-33 showed a high quantity of calcium compared to SPrecm. However, the proximate composition showed no significant difference among quinoa accessions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-023-01398-2.

Rapid profiling of potential antitumor polymethoxylated flavonoids in natural products by integrating cell biospecific extraction with neutral loss/diagnostic ion filtering-based high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

INTRODUCTION

Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium Viride (CRPV, Qing Pi in Chinese) has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Polymethoxylated flavonoids (PMFs), which are a special group of flavonoids with strong antitumor activity, are broadly distributed in citrus peels. However, systematic investigation of antitumor PMFs in CRPV has received little attention to date.

OBJECTIVES

An MCF-7 cell biospecific extraction method integrated with neutral loss/diagnostic ion filtering-based HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS strategy was developed for rapid and specific profiling of antitumor PMFs and systematic identification of PMFs in CRPV.

METHODOLOGY

By incubating MCF-7 cells with CRPV extract, potential antitumor PMFs specifically bound to cells and were isolated. Then, by systematic investigation of fragmentation pathways, neutral loss and diagnostic ion filtering strategies were proposed to comprehensively and accurately identify PMFs.

RESULTS

Sixteen antitumor PMFs were unambiguously or tentatively identified. Among them, minor compound 15 (5-hydroxy-6,7,8,3',4'-pentamethoxyflavone with a free hydroxyl group at C-5) exhibited excellent antitumor activity, with an IC₅₀ value of 2.81 ± 0.76 μg/mL, which is lower than that of 5-fluorouracil (IC₅₀ , 4.92 ± 0.83 μg/mL). Nobiletin (12) and tangeretin (16), two major PMFs, presented moderate antitumor activities with IC₅₀ values of 13.06 ± 1.85 and 17.07 ± 1.18 μg/mL, respectively, and their contents were sensitively and precisely determined.

CONCLUSIONS

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the systematic investigation of antitumor PMFs in CRPV. The study will lay a foundation for the quality control and clinical application of CRPV.