A metabolite profiling approach to follow the sprouting process of mung beans (Vigna radiata)

Abstract

A metabolite profiling methodology based on capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was employed to investigate time-dependent metabolic changes in the course of the sprouting of mung beans (Vigna radiata). Intact mung beans and sprout samples taken during the germination process were subjected to an extraction and fractionation procedure covering a broad spectrum of lipophilic (e.g. fatty acid methyl esters, hydrocarbons, fatty alcohols, sterols) and hydrophilic (e.g. sugars, acids, amino acids, amines) low molecular weight constituents. Investigation of the obtained fractions by GC resulted in the detection of more than 450 distinct peaks of which 146 were identified by means of MS. Statistical assessment of the metabolite profiling data via principal component analysis demonstrated that the metabolic changes during the sprouting of mung beans are reflected by time-dependent shifts of the scores which were comparable for two spouting processes independently conducted under the same conditions. Analysis of the loadings showed that polar metabolites were major contributors to the separation along the first principal component. The dynamic changes of single metabolites revealed significantly increased levels of monosaccharides, organic acids and amino acids and a decrease in fatty acid methyl esters in mung bean sprouts.

Effect of Sprouting Temperature and Air Relative Humidity on Metabolic Profiles of Sprouting Black Gram (Vigna mungoL.)

“…Quantities of acids significantly increased over the germination process of black gram. A considerable increase in amino acid levels has also been reported in sprouting mung bean (Na Jom et al 2011) and pea (Kuo et al 2004). It should be noted that changes of amine, amino acid, organic acid and inorganic acid contents in black gram over the germination process are highly influenced by the respective sprouting temperature.…”

“…The powder was extracted and fractionated into four parts according to an established method (Na Jom et al 2011). The metabolite profiling allowed the detection of a broad range of nonpolar (e.g., fatty acid methyl esters, hydrocarbons, fatty alcohols and sterols) and polar (e.g., sugars, sugar alcohols, acids, amino acids and amines) low molecular weight compounds.…”

“…All fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography together with a flame-ionized detector (GC-FID) model HP 6890 (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA). The GC conditions were set according to the previously described procedure (Na Jom et al 2011). All samples were analyzed in triplicate.…”

“…When combined with proper multivariate data analysis, the metabolic profiles give signature traits to explain the effect of external perturbation (Khakimov et al 2014). Metabolite profiling technique has been adapted to study nutritional metabolites as well as health-promoting phytochemical compounds in various legumes and sprouts, e.g., pea sprout (Santos et al 2014), chickpea (Fratianni et al 2014), mung bean sprout (Na Jom et al 2011) and soybean sprout (Tseng et al 2004). In the absence of any prior research on different sprouting conditions affecting the metabolic profiles of sprouting black gram, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of temperature and air RH over the metabolic profile of black gram sprouting by using gas chromatography (GC)-based technique.…”

From models to crop species: caveats and solutions for translational metabolomics

“…Initial applications of metabolic profiling were largely focused on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (von Roepenack-Lahaye et al, 2004; Tohge et al, 2005; Gibon et al, 2006; Trenkamp et al, 2009; Araujo et al, 2010; Kerwin et al, 2011), however, several studies have been carried out on the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Giroud et al, 1988; Bolling and Fiehn, 2005; May et al, 2008; Boyle and Morgan, 2009; Renberg et al, 2010) with other successful applications being reported for Catharanthus roseus (Rischer et al, 2006), Fragaria x ananassa (Aharoni et al, 2000, 2002; Hanhineva et al, 2008), Hordeum vulgare (Widodo Patterson et al, 2009), Medicago truncatula (Achnine et al, 2005), Nicotiana tabacum (Goossens et al, 2003), Oryza sativa (Albinsky et al, 2010), Perilla frutescens (Yamazaki et al, 2008), Pisum sativum (Jom et al, 2010), and Solanum lycopersicum (Schauer et al, 2005, 2006; Moco et al, 2006; Fraser et al, 2007) as well as the unicellular prokaryotes Synechocystis sp. (Krall et al, 2009) and the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Allen et al, 2008).…”