From phytochemistry to metabolomics: eight decades of research in plant and food science

Abstract

Phytochemistry represents a large interdisciplinary research area which apply the chemical knowledge in plant biology, biochemistry and physiology. Since centuries, the technology related to the isolation and characterization of phytochemicals (plant secondary metabolites) developed gradually towards a holistic approach of omics' technology, as part of the "systems biology" concept. This review underlines the scientific progress during the last eight decades, from "classical" phytochemistry to metabolomics, applied on plants and food and reflects not only the role of phytochemicals as key-molecules with essential roles in plants and with great benefits on animal and human health, but also their involvement in plant chemotaxonomy, food technology and authenticity. First, a selection of the major groups of phytochemicals and their main bioresources. The metabolomic technology is presented, as a high-throughput analytical platform to identify, by untargeted or targeted techniques, the fingerprint or key metabolites of a specific pathway in plants or for authentication of a food matrix. Updated literature data are presented, including a summary of eight decades of achievements of the research group related to Chemistry and Biochemistry of Natural Products at the

Metabolomic Analysis of Phytochemical Compounds from Agricultural Residues of Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

“…The site with the highest number of unique features detected was the leaf (2308 features), followed by the root, fruit, and stem ( Figure 2 ). In this sense, in some plants, the leaves are considered the arsenal of metabolites against abiotic and biotic stress [ 43 ]. The sites that shared the most features were the root and leaf, followed by the root and fruit, and root and stem.…”

Identification of a β-Carboline Alkaloid from Chemoselectively Derived Vanilla Bean Extract and Its Prevention of Lipid Droplet Accumulation in Human Hepatocytes (HepG2)

“…All matches between the network and library spectra were required to score above 0.7 and at least six matched peaks. Compounds: vanillin (1), phenylacetic acid, 2-hydroxy (2), benzaldehyde, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy (3), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (4), cembrene (5), benzaldehyde, 2-hydroxy (6), L -Asparagine (7), phenylacetic acid (9), methylmalonic acid (10), L -Homoserine (11), D -ornithine (12), MFCD00004183 (13), N-acetylproline (15), aminoadipate (17), 13-Docosenamide, (Z) ( 18), 2,6-Diaminohexanoic acid ( 16), 9-Octadecenamide, (Z) (19), 1-Oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol from NIST14 (20), L -(-)-Serine (22AA), NCGC00380682-01_C13H18O8_( 23), 4H-Pyran-4one, 3-(beta-D -glucopyranosyloxy)-2-methyl- (24), Lactulose (25), N-Acetylhistidine (26), 1-Hexadecanoyl-sn-glycerol (27), bullatine G (28), urocanate (30), sn-Glycerol 3-phosphate (31), and L -Arginine (33). The DFF module has been implemented into the open-source, platform, and is available by downloading MZmine 2.38 or newer releases.…”

“…However, the isolation process is a limiting factor in the discovery of new compounds because it relies on extraction and chromatographic separation, which have a limited ability to purify and concentrate the minor components of a biological extract [4]. The conversion of functional groups in bioactive molecules is a valuable method for enhancing the availability of secondary metabolites in natural extracts [5][6][7][8]. Recently, several chemical procedures, including ammonolysis, sulfonylation, bromination, ethanolysis, and epoxidation have been performed on plant extracts to obtain new and potentially bioactive compounds [8,9].…”