Free Amino Acids and Biogenic Amines Profiling and Variation in Wild and Sub-Endemic Cardueae Species from Sardinia and Corse

Abstract

The cardueae are a common species in the Mediterranean area where they grow spontaneously and are traditionally employed as food and for health purposes. In this work, five Cardueae, including two sub-endemic species (four Carduus and three Ptilostemon casabonae (L.) Greuter samples from different locations) were collected from Sardinia and the Corse islands. All the considered plants are characteristic of the area, in particular the sub-endemic species C. cephalathus and P. casabonae. This work aims to obtain, for the first time, the amino compounds profile (primary metabolites) of these little-studied species to detect for any similarities and differences among the different samples using statistical analyses. A recently developed method was employed, where diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate (DEEMM) derivatives are detected in a neutral loss scan mode using high performance liquid chromatography in tandem with a mass spectrometry technique. In total, 42 amino compounds were detected, of which 33 were fully identified and semi-quantified. Overall, the results show that DEEMM-derivatized amino compounds are qualitatively similar among the considered samples. Nonetheless, a discrimination at the genus level is possible. This work adds more information regarding the phytochemical composition regarding the primary metabolites of the considered samples, their discriminations and the search for compounds with potential health benefits.

Promising inhibition of diabetes-related enzymes and antioxidant properties of Ptilostemon casabonae leaves extract

“…These compounds, together with specialised metabolites, are very important for their nutritional and healthy properties, especially considering that this species, as well as the other wild thistles, are traditionally used for food. As far as we know, this is the first report on lipid content of P. casabonae leaves, while a previous article investigated the content of amino compounds, revealing proline, asparagine, glutamine and glutamic acid as the main constituents in the acidified hydroalcoholic extract of the aerial parts of this species 7 .…”

“…Previous studies focused on the phytochemical analysis of the extracts obtained from its aerial parts, providing information on its primary and specialised metabolites. A remarkable amount of phenolic and amino compounds has been reported 6 , 7 , making this plant a good candidate for food supplements and functional foods. However, as far as we know, more information on the biological activities of this species is needed.…”