Chromatographic Analysis for Targeted Metabolomics of Antioxidant and Flavor-Related Metabolites in Tomato

Abstract

Targeted metabolomics is a useful approach to evaluate crop breeding studies. Antioxidant and flavor-related traits are of increasing interest and are considered quality traits in tomato breeding.The present study presents chromatographic methods to study antioxidants (carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, phenolic compounds, and glutathione) and flavor-related characters (sugars and organic acids) in tomato. Two different extraction methods (for polar and apolar entities) were applied to isolate the targeted compounds. The extraction methods developed in this work were time and cost-effective since no further purification was needed. Carotenoids, vitamin C, glutathione, and phe nolic acids were analyzed by HPLC-PDA using a RP C18 column at an appropriate wavelength for each compound.Vitamin E and sugars were analyzed by HPLC with RP C18 and NH2 columns and detected by FLD and RI detectors, respectively. In addition, organic acids were analyzed with GC-FID using a Rtx 5DA column after derivatization with MSTFA. As a result, sensitive analytical methods to quantify important plant metabolites were developed and are described herein. These methods are not only applicable in tomato but are also useful to characterize other species for flavor-related and antioxidant compounds.Thus, these protocols can be used to guide selection in crop breeding.

Improvement of tomato yield and quality using slow release NPK fertilizers prepared by carnauba wax emulsion, starch-based latex and hydrogel nanocomposite combination

“…To measure lycopene, vitamin C and antioxidant capacity, five fruits were randomly selected from each replication and the sample was grated and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The samples were kept in a freezer at −80 °C until analysis, then HPLC (Agilent 1100 Series) equipped with RI detector and Symmetry ® NH2 chromatography column was used for the measurements 37 – 39 .…”