Quantification of sphingolipids in soybeans

Lipid Composition Analysis and Characterization of Acyl Sterol Glycosides in Adzuki and Soybean Cultivars by Non-Targeted LC-MS

Beans, a globally significant economic and nutritional food crop, are rich in polyphenolic chemicals with potential health advantages, providing high protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins. However, studies on the global profiling of lipids in beans are limited. We applied a non-targeted lipidomic approach based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (HPLC/LTQ-Orbitrap-MS) to comprehensively profile and compare the lipids in six distinct bean cultivars, namely, adzuki red beans-adzuki cultivar (ARB-AC), adzuki red beans-Benidainagon cultivar (ARB-BC), adzuki red beans-Erimoshouzu cultivar (ARB-EC), soybean-Fukuyutaka cultivar 2021 (SB-FC21), soybean-Fukuyutaka cultivar 2022 (SB-FC22), and soybean-Oosuzu cultivar (SB-OC). MS/MS analysis defined 144 molecular species from four main lipid groups. Multivariate principal component analysis indicated unique lipid compositions in the cultivars except for ARB-BC and ARB-EC. Evaluation of the concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid ratio among all the cultivars showed that SB-FC21 and SB-FC22 had the highest value, suggesting they are the most beneficial for health. Furthermore, lipids such as acyl sterol glycosides were detected and characterized for the first time in these bean cultivars. Hierarchical cluster correlations revealed the predominance of ceramides in ARB-EC, lysophospholipids in SB-FC21, and glycerophospholipids in SB-OC. This study comprehensively investigated lipids and their compositions in beans, indicating their potential utility in the nutritional evaluation of beans as functional foods.

The nutritional functions of dietary sphingomyelin and its applications in food

Sphingolipids are common structural components of cell membranes and are crucial for cell functions in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Sphingomyelin and its metabolites, such as sphingoid bases, ceramide, ceramide-1-phosphate, and sphingosine-1-phosphate, play signaling roles in the regulation of human health. The diverse structures of sphingolipids elicit various functions in cellular membranes and signal transduction, which may affect cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and maintain biological activities. As nutrients, dietary sphingomyelin and its metabolites have wide applications in the food and pharmaceutical industry. In this review, we summarized the distribution, classifications, structures, digestion, absorption and metabolic pathways of sphingolipids, and discussed the nutritional functioning of sphingomyelin in chronic metabolic diseases. The possible implications of dietary sphingomyelin in the modern food preparations including dairy products and infant formula, skin improvement, delivery system and oil organogels are also evaluated. The production of endogenous sphingomyelin is linked to pathological changes in obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. However, dietary supplementations of sphingomyelin and its metabolites have been shown to maintain cholesterol homeostasis and lipid metabolism, and to prevent or treat these diseases. This seemly paradoxical phenomenon shows that dietary sphingomyelin and its metabolites are candidates for food additives and functional food development for the prevention and treatment of chronic metabolic diseases in humans.

The contribution of polar sphingolipids to total sphingolipid content in food sources determined using a facile method for quantitation of long-chain bases

Evidence indicates that dietary sphingolipids may influence health and disease, and increasingly are considered a functional food component. A facile method for quantifying total sphingolipid content in a wide variety of food samples would be valuable in nutrition research involving these lipid components. Such a method using basic HPLC instrumentation to quantify fluorescent derivatives of long-chain bases liberated from sphingolipids following direct hydrolysis of food samples is described. The results demonstrate that the sphingolipid content of plant-based foods obtained using direct hydrolysis is greater than that obtained using conventional extraction methods. Direct hydrolysis yields sphingolipid content for animal-based samples similar to more complicated conventional methods. With these advantages, direct hydrolysis is a valuable and broadly applicable method for quantifying the total sphingolipid content of both plant- and animal-based food samples.

Sphingolipids in foodstuff: Compositions, distribution, digestion, metabolism and health effects - A comprehensive review

Sphingolipids (SLs) are common in all eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and viruses, and played a vital role in human health. They are involved in physiological processes, including intracellular transport, cell division, and signal transduction. However, there are limited reviews on dietary effects on endogenous SLs metabolism and further on human health. Various dietary conditions, including the SLs-enriched diet, high-fat diet, and vitamins, can change the level of endogenous SLs metabolites and even affect human health. This review systematically summarizes the main known SLs in foods concerning their variety and contents, as well as their isolation and identification approaches. Moreover, the present review discusses the role of dietary (particularly SLs-enriched diet, high-fat diet, and vitamins) in endogenous SLs metabolism, highlighting how exogenous SLs are digested and absorbed. The role of SLs family in the pathogenesis of diseases, including cancers, neurological disorders, infectious and inflammatory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, and in recently coronavirus disease-19 outbreak was also discussed. In the post-epidemic era, we believe that the concern for health and the need for plant-based products will increase. Therefore, a need for research on the absorption and metabolism pathway of SLs (especially plant-derived SLs) and their bioavailability is necessary. Moreover, the effects of storage treatment and processing on the content and composition of SLs in food are worth exploring. Further studies should also be conducted on the dose-response of SLs on human health to support the development of SLs supplements. More importantly, new approaches, such as, making SLs based hydrogels can effectively achieve sustained release and targeted therapies.

Structural characterization of plant glucosylceramides and the corresponding ceramides by UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometry

Ceramides (CERs) play a major role in skin barrier function and direct replacement of depleted skin CERs, due to skin disorder or aging, has beneficial effects in improving skin barrier function and skin hydration. Though, plants are reliable source of CERs, absence of economical and effective method of hydrolysis to convert the dominant plant sphingolipid, glucosylceramides (GlcCERs), into CERs remains a challenge. This study aims at exploring alternative GlcCERs sources and chemical method of hydrolysis into CERs for dermal application. GlcCERs isolated from lupin bean (Lupinus albus), mung bean (Vigna radiate) and naked barley (Hordium vulgare) were identified using ultra high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization - high resolution tandem mass spectrometer (UHPLC/APCI-HRMS/MS) and quantified with validated automated multiple development-high performance thin layer chromatography (AMD-HPTLC) method. Plant GlcCERs were hydrolyzed into CERs with mild acid hydrolysis (0.1 N HCl) after treating them with oxidizing agent, NaIO_4, and reducing agent, NaBH₄. GlcCERs with 4,8-sphingadienine, 8-sphingenine and 4-hydroxy-8-sphingenine sphingoid bases linked with C14 to C26 α-hydroxylated fatty acids (FAs) were identified. Single GlcCER (m/z 714.5520) was dominant in lupin and mung beans while five major GlcCERs species (m/z 714.5520, m/z 742.5829, m/z 770.6144, m/z 842.6719 and m/z 844.56875) were obtained from naked barley. The GlcCERs contents of the three plants were comparable. However, lupin bean contains predominantly (> 98 %) a single GlcCER (m/z 714.5520). Considering the affordability, GlcCER content and yield, lupin bean would be the preferred alternative commercial source of GlcCERs. CER species bearing 4,8-sphingadienine and 8-sphingenine sphingoid bases attached to C14 to 24 FAs were found after mild acid hydrolysis. CER species with m/z 552.4992 was the main component in the beans while CER with m/z 608.5613 was dominant in the naked barley. However, CERs with 4-hydroxy-8-sphingenine sphingoid base were not detected in UHPLC-HRMS/MS study suggesting that the method works for mainly GlcCERs carrying dihydroxy sphingoid bases. The method is economical and effective which potentiates the commercialization of plant CERs for dermal application.

Sphingolipids in food and their critical roles in human health

Sphingolipids (SLs) are ubiquitous structural components of cell membranes and are essential for cell functions under physiological conditions or during disease progression. Abundant evidence supports that SLs and their metabolites, including ceramide (Cer), ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P), sphingosine (So), sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), are signaling molecules that regulate a diverse range of cellular processes and human health. However, there are limited reviews on the emerging roles of exogenous dietary SLs in human health. In this review, we discuss the ubiquitous presence of dietary SLs, highlighting their structures and contents in foodstuffs, particularly in sea foods. The digestion and metabolism of dietary SLs is also discussed. Focus is given to the roles of SLs in both the etiology and prevention of diseases, including bacterial infection, cancers, neurogenesis and neurodegenerative diseases, skin integrity, and metabolic syndrome (MetS). We propose that dietary SLs represent a "functional" constituent as emerging strategies for improving human health. Gaps in research that could be of future interest are also discussed.

Comparative phytochemical profiling of different soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) genotypes using GC-MS

This study aimed to estimate the proximate, phenolic and flavonoids contents and phytochemicals present in seeds of twenty four soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr) genotypes to explore their nutritional and medicinal values. Crude protein composition ranged between 35.63 and 43.13% in Argentinian and USA (Clark) genotypes, respectively. Total phenolic content varied from 1.15 to 1.77 mg GAE/g, whereas flavonoids varied from 0.68 to 2.13 mg QE/g. The GC-MS analysis resulted identification of 88 compounds categorized into aldehydes (5), ketones (13), alcohols (5), carboxylic acids (7), esters (13), alkanes (2), heterocyclic compounds (19), phenolic compound (9), sugar moiety (7) ether (4) and amide (3), one Alkene and one fatty acid ester. Indonesian genotypes (Ijen and Indo-1) had the highest phenolic compounds than others genotype having antioxidant activities, while the Australian genotype contains the maximum in esters compounds. The major phytocompounds identified in majority of genotypes were Phenol, 2,6-dimethoxy-, 2-Methoxy-4-vinylphenol, 3,5-Dimethoxyacetophenone, 1,2-cyclopentanedione and Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester. The presence of phytochemicals with strong pharmacological actions like antimicrobial and antioxidants activities could be considered as sources of quality raw materials for food and pharmaceutical industries. This study further set a platform for isolating and understanding the characteristics of each compound for it pharmacological properties.

Potential Applications of Phyto-Derived Ceramides in Improving Epidermal Barrier Function

The outer most layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, consists of corneocytes which are coated by a cornified envelope and embedded in a lipid matrix of ordered lamellar structure. It is responsible for the skin barrier function. Ceramides (CERs) are the backbone of the intercellular lipid membranes. Skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis and aged skin are characterized by dysfunctional skin barrier and dryness which are associated with reduced levels of CERs. Previously, the effectiveness of supplementation of synthetic and animal-based CERs in replenishing the depleted natural skin CERs and restoring the skin barrier function have been investigated. Recently, however, the barrier function improving effect of plant-derived CERs has attracted much attention. Phyto-derived CERs (phytoCERs) are preferable due to their assumed higher safety as they are mostly isolated from dietary sources. The beneficial effects of phytoCER-based oral dietary supplements for skin hydration and skin barrier reinforcement have been indicated in several studies involving animal models as well as human subjects. Ingestible dietary supplements containing phytoCERs are also widely available on the market. Nonetheless, little effort has been made to investigate the potential cosmetic applications of topically administered phytoCERs. Therefore, summarizing the foregoing investigations and identifying the gap in the scientific data on plant-derived CERs intended for skin-health benefits are of paramount importance. In this review, an attempt is made to synthesize the information available in the literature regarding the effects of phytoCER-based oral dietary supplements on skin hydration and barrier function with the underlying mechanisms.

Production of Rare Phyto-Ceramides from Abundant Food Plant Residues

Ceramides (Cers) are major components of the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, and play a crucial role in permeability barrier functions. Alterations in Cer composition causing skin diseases are compensated with semisynthetic skin-identical Cers. Plants constitute new resources for Cer production as they contain glucosylceramides (GluCers) as major components. GluCers were purified from industrial waste plant materials, apple pomace (Malus domestica), wheat germs (Triticum sp.), and coffee grounds (Coffea sp.), with GluCer contents of 28.9 mg, 33.7 mg, and 4.4 mg per 100 g of plant material. Forty-five species of GluCers (1-45) were identified with different sphingoid bases, saturated or monounsaturated α-hydroxy fatty acids (C15-28), and β-glucose as polar headgroup. Three main GluCers were hydrolyzed by a recombinant human glucocerebrosidase to produce phyto-Cers (46-48). These studies showed that rare and expensive phyto-Cers can be obtained from industrial food plant residues.

Analytical methods in sphingolipidomics: Quantitative and profiling approaches in food analysis

In recent years, sphingolipidomics has emerged as an interesting omic science that encompasses the study of the full sphingolipidome characterization, content, structure and activity in cells, tissues or organisms. Like other omics, it has the potential to impact biomarker discovery, drug development and systems biology knowledge. Concretely, dietary food sphingolipids have gained considerable importance due to their extensively reported bioactivity. Because of the complexity of this lipid family and their diversity among foods, powerful analytical methodologies are needed for their study. The analytical tools developed in the past have been improved with the enormous advances made in recent years in mass spectrometry (MS) and chromatography, which allow the convenient and sensitive identification and quantitation of sphingolipid classes and form the basis of current sphingolipidomics methodologies. In addition, novel hyphenated nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) strategies, new ionization strategies, and MS imaging are outlined as promising technologies to shape the future of sphingolipid analyses. This review traces the analytical methods of sphingolipidomics in food analysis concerning sample extraction, chromatographic separation, the identification and quantification of sphingolipids by MS and their structural elucidation by NMR.

Determination of bioactive compounds in fermented soybean products using GC/MS and further investigation of correlation of their bioactivities

The active ingredients and bioactivities (anti-oxidant, anti-tyrosinase, anti-proliferative and estrogenic activities) of soybean and soybean products (Cheonggukjang, Meju, Makjang, Doenjang and soy sauce) produced by different fermentation processes were compared. There were high correlations between active ingredients and bioactivities. Free phenolic acids extracted from soybean products were identified and quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Overall, the components and activities in fermented soybean products were different than those in soybeans. Total phenolic content (TPC), protein content (PC) and anti-oxidant activity increased as fermentation time increased. TPC and PC showed strong negative correlations with anti-oxidant activity. Doenjang and soy sauce, two long-term fermented products, showed lower total flavonoid content (TFC) and estrogenic activities than short-term fermented soybean products. This might be explained by the decomposition and hydrolysis of flavonoids due to the long fermentation time and high temperature. Strong anti-proliferative activity against cancer cell lines, which was highly correlated with TFC, was found in Meju and Cheonggukjang. Soybean and all fermented products except Meju exhibited effective tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Fermented products showed stronger estrogenic activity than soybeans, which was highly correlated with syringic acid.