NMR-Based Metabolomics for Geographical Discrimination of Adhatoda vasica Leaves.

Adhatoda vasica (L.), Nees is a widespread plant in Asia. It is used in Ayurvedic and Unani medications for the management of various infections and health disorders, especially as a decoction to treat cough, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. Although it has a diverse metabolomic profile, this plant is particularly known for its alkaloids. The present study is the first to report a broad range of present compounds, e.g., α-linolenic acid, acetate, alanine, threonine, valine, glutamate, malate, fumaric acid, sucrose, ß-glucose, kaempferol analogues, quercetin analogues, luteolin, flavone glucoside, vasicine and vasicinone, which were identified by NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics. Multivariate data analysis was used to analyze 1H-NMR bucketed data from a number of Adhatoda vasica leave samples collected from eight different regions in Pakistan. The results showed large variability in metabolomic fingerprints. The major difference was on the basis of longitude/latitude and altitude of the areas, with both primary and secondary metabolites discriminating the samples from various regions.

Comprehensive polyoxypregnane glycosides report in Caralluma quadrangula using UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF and their antioxidant effects in human plasma.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Caralluma quadrangula (Forssk.) N.E.Br. (Syns: = Stapelia quadrangula Forssk. = Monolluma quadrangula Forssk.) is an indigenous member of the genus Caralluma and it is a rather common species on rocky hillsides in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia. Several members of this genus have found medicinal uses in the treatment of rheumatism, diabetes, leprosy and as antiseptics and disinfectants. All parts are edible but rather more bitter and can cause diarrhea. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present report was tentatively elucidated the structure of acylated and non-acylated polyoxypregnane glycosides from Caralluma quadrangula. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analyses were performed using an electrospray-ionization quadrupole time-of-flight (ESI-Q-TOF) mass spectrometer in both positive and negative ionization modes to explore fragmentation pathways. The antioxidant and prooxidant properties of the different mobility portions of human plasma were evaluated in vitro using thiobarbituric acid reactive substance assay (TBARS). RESULTS: The analyses showed sixty-five characteristic ion peaks which could be more efficient to assignment the aglycones and fragmentation sequences of sugar moieties. The used ionization modes provided consistent and/or complementary information for most of the pregnane glycosides, their fragmentation sequences, and their aglycones. A DFT Study was performed to elucidate the neutral loss of H2O molecules sequences from aglycones and the esterification linkage. CONCLUSIONS: This report could be useful to reduce material consuming and time in phytochemistry analysis of the different medicinal plants. The two portions significantly depleted TBARS were subjected to autoperoxidation assay in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.

Effect of Salinity Stress on Growth and Metabolomic Profiling of Cucumis sativus and Solanum lycopersicum.

Seeds germination and seedlings growth of Cucumis sativus and Solanum lycopersicum were monitored in in vitro and in vivo experiments after application of different concentrations of NaCl (25, 50, 100 and 200 mM). Photosynthetic pigments content and the biochemical responses of C. sativus and S. lycopersicum were assessed. Salinity stress slightly delayed the seeds germination rate and significantly reduced the percentage of germination as well as shoot length under the highest salt concentration (200 mM) in cucumber. Furthermore, root length was decreased significantly in all treatments. Whereas, in tomato, a prominent delay in seeds germination rate, the germination percentage and seedlings growth (shoot and root lengths) were significantly influenced under all concentrations of NaCl. Fresh and dry weights were reduced prominently in tomato compared to cucumber. Photosynthetic pigments content was reduced but with pronounced decreasing in tomato compared to cucumber. Secondary metabolites profiling in both plants under stress was varied from tomato to cucumber. The content of saponins, proline and total antioxidant capacity was reduced more prominently in tomato as compared to cucumber. On the other hand, the content of phenolics and flavonoids was increased in both plants with pronounced increase in tomato particularly under the highest level of salinity stress. The metabolomic profiling in stressful plants was significantly influenced by salinity stress and some bioactive secondary metabolites was enhanced in both cucumber and tomato plants. The enhancement of secondary metabolites under salinity stress may explain the tolerance and sensitivity of cucumber and tomato under salinity stress. The metabolomic evaluation combined with multivariate data analysis revealed a similar mechanism of action of plants to mediate stress, with variant level of this response in both plant species. Based on these results, the effect of salinity stress on seeds germination, seedlings growth and metabolomic content of plants was discussed in terms of tolerance and sensitivity of plants to salinity stress.

Metal ion-inducing metabolite accumulation in Brassica rapa.

Plants face a number of biotic and abiotic environmental stress factors during growth. Among the abiotic factors, in particular, a great deal of attention has been paid to metals not only because of their increasing amounts in the environment due to rapid industrial development but also because of the variation of metal composition in soil. Cultivation of crops close to industrial areas or irrigation with contaminated water may result in both growth inhibition and tissue accumulation of metals. Brassica species are well known as metal accumulators and are being used for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. However, the metal tolerance mechanism in the plant still remains unclear. In order to investigate the metabolomic changes induced by metal ions in Brassica, plants were subjected to concentrations 50, 100, 250 and 500 mmol of copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) in separate treatments. (1)H NMR and two-dimensional NMR spectra coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to investigate the metabolic change in Brassica rapa (var. Raapstelen). The (1)H-NMR analysis followed by the application of chemometric methods revealed a number of metabolic consequences. Among the metabolites that showed variation, glucosinolates and hydroxycinnamic acids conjugated with malates were found to be the discriminating metabolites as were primary metabolites like carbohydrates and amino acids. This study shows that the effects of Cu and Fe on plant metabolism were larger than those of Mn and that the metabolomic changes varied not only according to the type of metal but also according to its concentration.

Metabolic characterization of Brassica rapa leaves by NMR spectroscopy.

The Brassica has been intensively studied due to the nutritional and beneficial effects. However, many species, varieties, and cultivars of this genus and the resulting large metabolic variation have been obstacles for systematic research of the plant. In order to overcome the problems posed by the biological variation, the metabolomic analysis of various cultivars of Brassica rapa was performed by NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis. Discriminating metabolites in different cultivars and development stages were elucidated by diverse 2D-NMR techniques after sorting out different significant signals using (1)H NMR measurements and principal component analysis. Among the elucidated metabolites, several organic and amino acids, carbohydrates, adenine, indole acetic acid (IAA), phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, and glucosinolates were found to be the metabolites contributing to the differentiation between cultivars and age of Brassica rapa. On the basis of these results, the distribution of plant metabolites among different cultivars and development stages of B. rapa is discussed.