Ultrahigh Pressure Processing Produces Alterations in the Metabolite Profiles of Panax ginseng

Abstract

Ultrahigh pressure (UHP) treatments are non-thermal processing methods that have customarily been employed to enhance the quality and productivity of plant consumables. We aimed to evaluate the effects of UHP treatments on ginseng samples (white ginseng: WG; UHP-treated WG: UWG; red ginseng: RG; UHP-treated RG: URG; ginseng berries: GB; and UHP-treated GB: UGB) using metabolite profiling based on ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-linear trap quadrupole-ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ-IT-MS/MS) and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS). Multivariate data analyses revealed a clear demarcation among the GB and UGB samples, and the phenotypic evaluations correlated the highest antioxidant activities and the total phenolic and flavonoid compositions with the UGB samples. Overall, eight amino acids, seven organic acids, seven sugars and sugar derivatives, two fatty acids, three notoginsenosides, three malonylginsenosides, and three ginsenosides, were identified as significantly discriminant metabolites between the GB and UGB samples, with relatively higher proportions in the latter. Ideally, these metabolites can be used as quality biomarkers for the assessment of ginseng products and our results indicate that UHP treatment likely led to an elevation in the proportions of total extractable metabolites in ginseng samples.

A Growth-Promoting Bacteria, Paenibacillus yonginensis DCY84T Enhanced Salt Stress Tolerance by Activating Defense-Related Systems in Panax ginseng

“…For soil element analysis, soil samples were air dried and passed through a 2-mm sieve. We analyzed the chemical properties of the samples according to the standard methods of the Rural Development Administration of Korea (Lee et al, 2016 ). Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured using a soil-to-water ratio of 1:5 with a pH meter (Thermo, Orion 900A) and an Orion 162A conductivity meter, respectively.…”

“…We set the acquisition rate to 20 scans/s with a mass scan range of 45–1,000 m/z . The injector and ion source temperatures were set at 250°C and 230°C, respectively (Lee et al, 2016 ).…”

Strategy for Screening of Antioxidant Compounds from Two Ulmaceae Species Based on Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

“…ABTS antioxidant activity was performed using the method suggested by Lee et al [ 5 ]. The stock solution included ABTS stock solution (7 mM) and potassium persulfate stock solution (2.45 mM).…”

“…To measure the TFCs, we employed the method described previously by Lee et al [ 5 ]. The five stepwise SPE leaf extracts from A. aspera and Z. serrata were reconstituted in 100% methanol.…”

“…In recent years, plant metabolomics has emerged as an important tool for examining the gamut of natural bioactive products, with extensive applications for characterizing functional metabolites, drug research and development, as well as plant chemical diversity [ 4 ]. The metabolomics analyses commonly utilizes a range of analytical platforms such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), capillary electrophoresis-MS (CE-MS), liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy [ 5 ]. In particular, LC-MS based metabolomics is considered as a widely used strategy for the relative comparison of both targeted and untargeted metabolite profiles as well as the screening of bioactive compounds owing its high sensitivity and selectivity coupled with rapid analysis ability [ 6 ].…”