Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of Chinese Kale (Brassica alboglabra Bailey) Using UHPLC-Quadrupole-Orbitrap MS/MS-Based Metabolomics

Abstract

Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra Bailey) is a widely consumed vegetable which is rich in antioxidants and anticarcinogenic compounds. Herein, we used an untargeted ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-Quadrupole-Orbitrap MS/MS-based metabolomics strategy to study the nutrient profiles of Chinese kale. Seven Chinese kale cultivars and three different edible parts were evaluated, and amino acids, sugars, organic acids, glucosinolates and phenolic compounds were analysed simultaneously. We found that two cultivars, a purple-stem cultivar W1 and a yellow-flower cultivar Y1, had more health-promoting compounds than others. The multivariate statistical analysis results showed that gluconapin was the most important contributor for discriminating both cultivars and edible parts. The purple-stem cultivar W1 had higher levels of some phenolic acids and flavonoids than the green stem cultivars. Compared to stems and leaves, the inflorescences contained more amino acids, glucosinolates and most of the phenolic acids. Meanwhile, the stems had the least amounts of phenolic compounds among the organs tested. Metabolomics is a powerful approach for the comprehensive understanding of vegetable nutritional quality. The results provide the basis for future metabolomics-guided breeding and nutritional quality improvement.

Effects of Short-Term Root Cooling before Harvest on Yield and Food Quality of Chinese Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Alboglabra Bailey)

“…Glucose, fructose and sucrose are the major soluble sugars in Chinese broccoli [6]. The concentrations of three soluble sugars in stems were higher in comparison to leaves, consistent with previous studies [40]. Starch is the primary storage component [41], and its concentration was determined after soluble sugar extraction.…”

Analysis of Primary Metabolites in Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Varieties Correlated with Antioxidant Activity and Taste Attributes by Metabolic Profiling

“…Food metabolomics, a key technique used in foodomics, is the best way to identify characteristic metabolic components among distinct crop varieties [6,7,8,9]. Multiple chemical components of Brassica have already been characterized through metabolomics [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. Kim et al were able to distinguish Chinese and Korean cabbages using proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectroscopy [10].…”

Microscopic Characteristic and Chemical Composition Analysis of Three Medicinal Plants and Surface Frosts

“…Raman spectroscopy was used for the frosts of P. ostii and H. officinalis. Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have been widely used and become increasingly important [38][39][40]. In this study, we choose the most appropriate mass-spectrometric technique for the analysis of different samples, and UPLC-Q/TOF-MS, UPLC-Q Orbitrap, and GC-MS were used to analyze the P. ostii, H. officinalis, A. lancea, and their frosts, respectively.…”