Encapsulating Calendula arvensis (Vaill.) L. Florets: UHPLC-HRMS Insights into Bioactive Compounds Preservation and Oral Bioaccessibility

Abstract

Wild edible plants, once consumed in times of famine or for health purposes, today represent an interesting dietary supplement, aimed at enriching local dishes and/or formulating healthy nutraceutical products. In fact, the broad content of different, and diversely bioactive, specialized metabolites therein suggests new scenarios of use which, in order to be as functional as possible, must maximize the bioactivity of these compounds while preserving their chemistry. In this context, based on a recent investigation on the metabolic profile of the organs of Calendula arvensis that highlighted that florets are abundant in flavonol glycosides and triterpene saponins, the freeze-drying encapsulation of their alcoholic extract (FE) into maltodextrin (MD) was investigated. FE-MD chemical composition was evaluated using Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR), while ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) techniques were employed to unravel FE compound preservation also during in vitro simulated digestion. The establishment of H-bonds between FE compounds and MD hydroxyl groups was in line with FE-MD biocompatibility in Caco-2 cells, while in vitro digestion mostly affected structural integrity and/or diversity. Flavonol compounds underwent deglycosylation and demethylation, while deacylation, beyond oxidation, involved triterpene saponins, which massively preserve their aglycone core.

Calendula arvensis (Vaill.) L. Florets: Every Place and Season Resource? A Preliminary UHPLC-HRMS-Driven Assessment

“…Data related to vegetation structures and soil characteristics for each collection site are reported in the Supporting Information. All of the samples were chemically profiled by UHPLC-HRMS, following the guidelines previously provided in our works recently published. − Indeed, herein, the fragmentation pathways will not be discussed again to avoid data overlapping. Moreover, it should be considered that the main aim of the present work was the evaluation of the metabolite variations due to different environments and seasonality by a targeted UHPLC-HRMS approach.…”

“…arvensis grown in different geographical areas and during different seasonal phases. , On the contrary, there is a noticeable gap in research regarding other crucial metabolite classes. Our recent studies deepened the phytochemical diversity of its organ-specific specialized metabolites, , also suggesting a suitable encapsulation strategy to avoid their degradation during digestion, resulting in a decrease in bioavailability and bioactivity . Thus, as the “natural” progression of the same research project, the work described herein aimed at preliminarily exploring the variations of polar (e.g., flavonoids and saponins) and apolar (fatty acids) metabolites from spring florets harvested in five different sites along the coastal area of PNCVDA.…”

Lavandula austroapennina: Assessment of the Antiviral Activity of Lipophilic Extracts from Its Organs

“…Indeed, there is a growing awareness that several specialized plant metabolites offer a wide variety of antiviral therapeutic compounds [ 9 , 10 ], being capable of decreasing viral lifecycle processes: cell surface adhesion, cell entry, viral genome replication, viral protein expression, and the assembly and release of viral particles. Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are historically of interest for their beneficial and therapeutic properties [ 11 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to strengthen the role of traditional medicine by promoting the use of medicinal plants in the health systems of its countries [ 12 ].…”