Chemical profiling of spermidines in goji berry by strong cation exchange solid-phase extraction (SCX-SPE) combined with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS/MS)

Goat's Milk Powder Enriched with Red (Lycium barbarum L.) and Black (Lycium ruthenicum Murray) Goji Berry Extracts: Chemical Characterization, Antioxidant Properties, and Prebiotic Activity

The current trend in food innovations includes developing products containing plant ingredients or extracts rich in bioactive compounds. This study aimed to prepare and characterize skimmed thermally treated goat's milk powders enriched with lyophilized fruit extracts of Lycium ruthenicum Murray (GMLR) and Lycium barbarum L. (GMLB). Proximate analysis, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy using attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), and electrophoretic analysis were assessed. Total phenolic content (TPC), total protein content, and antioxidant properties of enriched goat milk powders were determined spectrophotometrically, and prebiotic potential was evaluated by the broth microdilution method. A total of 25 phenolic compounds and 18 phenylamides were detected in the enriched goat milk powders. Electrophoretic analysis showed the absence of proteolysis in the prepared powders. The GMLR showed the highest TPC and displayed a ferric ion-reducing power, probably contributed by anthocyanins and some phenylamides. GMLR and GMLB had higher ABTS radical scavenging activity but lower ferrous ion-chelating capacity than control goat's milk powder. GMLB and GMLR in a dose-dependent manner (0.3-5 mg/mL) showed a growth-promoting effect on probiotic strains. In summary, prepared goji/goat milk powders, primarily GMLR, might be used as prebiotic supplements or functional food additives.

Comparative metabolomics combined with genome sequencing provides insights into novel wolfberry-specific metabolites and their formation mechanisms

Wolfberry (Lycium, of the family Solanaceae) has special nutritional benefits due to its valuable metabolites. Here, 16 wolfberry-specific metabolites were identified by comparing the metabolome of wolfberry with those of six species, including maize, rice, wheat, soybean, tomato and grape. The copy numbers of the riboflavin and phenyllactate degradation genes riboflavin kinase (RFK) and phenyllactate UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT1) were lower in wolfberry than in other species, while the copy number of the phenyllactate synthesis gene hydroxyphenyl-pyruvate reductase (HPPR) was higher in wolfberry, suggesting that the copy number variation of these genes among species may be the main reason for the specific accumulation of riboflavin and phenyllactate in wolfberry. Moreover, the metabolome-based neighbor-joining tree revealed distinct clustering of monocots and dicots, suggesting that metabolites could reflect the evolutionary relationship among those species. Taken together, we identified 16 specific metabolites in wolfberry and provided new insight into the accumulation mechanism of species-specific metabolites at the genomic level.

The "depict" strategy for discovering new compounds in complex matrices: Lycibarbarspermidines as a case

The comprehensive detection and identification of active ingredients in complex matrices is a crucial challenge. Liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) is the most prominent analytical platform for the exploration of novel active compounds from complex matrices. However, the LC-HRMS-based analysis workflow suffers from several bottleneck issues, such as trace content of target compounds, limited acquisition for fragment information, and uncertainty in interpreting relevant MS2 spectra. Lycibarbarspermidines are vital antioxidant active ingredients in Lycii Fructus, while the reported structures are merely focused on dicaffeoylspermidines due to their low content. To comprehensively detect the new structures of lycibarbarspermidine derivatives, a "depict" strategy was developed in this study. First, potential new lycibarbarspermidine derivatives were designed according to the biosynthetic pathway, and a comprehensive database was established, which enlarged the coverage of lycibarbarspermidine derivatives. Second, the polarity-oriented sample preparation of potential new compounds increased the concentration of the target compounds. Third, the construction of the molecular network based on the fragmentation pathway of lycibarbarspermidine derivatives broadened the comprehensiveness of identification. Finally, the weak response signals were captured by data-dependent scanning (DDA) followed by parallel reaction monitoring (PRM), and the efficiency of acquiring MS2 fragment ions of target compounds was significantly improved. Based on the integrated strategy above, 210 lycibarbarspermidine derivatives were detected and identified from Lycii Fructus, and in particular, 170 potential new compounds were structurally characterized. The integrated strategy improved the sensitivity of detection and the coverage of low-response components, and it is expected to be a promising pipeline for discovering new compounds.

A comprehensive review of goji berry processing and utilization

Goji berry (wolfberry, Lycium), is a genus of Solanaceae, in which the roots, stems, leaves, and fruits are for both food and medicinal uses. In recent years, the demand for health food and research purposes has led to increasing attention being paid to the application of goji berry nutrients and resources. There are three general strategies to process and utilize the goji berry plant. First, the primary processing of goji berry products, such as dried goji berry pulp, and fruit wine with its by-products. Second, deep processing of sugar-peptides, carotenoids, and the extraction of other efficacy components with their by-products. Third, the utilization of plant-based by-products (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit residuals). However, the comprehensive use of goji berry is hampered by the non-standardized production technology of resource utilization and the absence of a multi-level co-production and processing technology systems. On the basis of this, we review some novel techniques that are made to more effectively use the resources found in goji berry or its by-products in order to serve as a guide for the thorough use of these resources and the high-quality growth of the goji berry processing industry.

Mass Defect Filtering-Oriented Identification of Resin Glycosides from Root of Convolvulus scammonia Based on Quadrupole-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer

This work aimed to develop and evaluate a post-acquisition data processing strategy, referred to as a mass defect filter (MDF), for rapid target the resin glycosides in root of Convolvulus scammonia by setting mass rang and mass defect range from high-resolution MS data. The full-scan mass data were acquired by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q Exactive Plus hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometer that featured high resolution, mass accuracy, and sensitivity. To screen resin glycosides, three parent filter m/z 871, m/z 853, and m/z 869 combined with diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs) approach were applied to remove the interference from complex herbal extract. The targeted components were characterized based on detailed fragment ions. Using this approach, 80 targeted components, including 22 glycosidic acids and 58 resin glycosides were tentatively identified. The present results suggested that the proposed MDF strategy would be adaptable to the analysis of complex system in relevant filed.

UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS Analysis of Seco-Sativene Sesquiterpenoids to Detect New and Bioactive Analogues From Plant Pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana

Seco-sativene sesquiterpenoids are an important member of phytotoxins and plant growth regulators isolated from a narrow spectrum of fungi. In this report, eight seco-sativene sesquiterpenoids (1-8) were first analyzed using the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS technique in positive mode, from which their mass fragmentation pathways were suggested. McLafferty rearrangement, 1,3-rearrangement, and neutral losses were considered to be the main fragmentation patterns for the [M+1]+ ions of 1-8. According to the structural features (of different substitutes at C-1, C-2, and C-13) in compounds 1-8, five subtypes (A-E) of seco-sativene were suggested, from which subtypes A, B/D, and E possessed the diagnostic daughter ions at m/z 175, 189, and 203, respectively, whereas subtype C had the characteristic daughter ion at m/z 187 in the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS profiles. Based on the fragmentation patterns of 1-8, several known compounds (1-8) and two new analogues (9 and 10) were detected in the extract of plant pathogen fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis, of which 1, 2, 9, and 10 were then isolated and elucidated by NMR spectra. The UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS spectra of these two new compounds (9 and 10) were consistent with the fragmentation mechanisms of 1-8. Compound 1 displayed moderate antioxidant activities with IC50 of 0.90 and 1.97 mM for DPPH and ABTS+ scavenging capacity, respectively. The results demonstrated that seco-sativene sesquiterpenoids with the same subtypes possessed the same diagnostic daughter ions in the UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS profiles, which could contribute to structural characterization of seco-sativene sesquiterpenoids. Our results also further supported that UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS is a powerful and sensitive tool for dereplication and detection of new analogues from crude extracts of different biological origins.

Extraction of functional extracts from berries and their high quality processing: a comprehensive review

Berry fruits have attracted increasing more attention of the food processing industry as well as consumers due to their widely acclaimed advantages as highly effective anti-oxidant properties which may provide protection against some cancers as well as aging. However, the conventional extraction methods are inefficient and wasteful of solvent utilization. This paper presents a critical overview of some novel extraction methods applicable to berries, including pressurized-liquid extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, enzyme-assisted extraction as well as some combined extraction methods. When combined with conventional methods, the new technologies can be more efficient and environmentally friendly. Additionally, high quality processing of the functional extracts from berry fruits, such as refined processing technology, is introduced in this review. Finally, progress of applications of berry functional extracts in the food industry is described in detail; this should encourage further scientific research and industrial utilization.

Visualizing the spatial distribution of endogenous molecules in wolfberry fruit at different development stages by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging

Wolfberry fruit has been attracting attention for centuries in Asian countries as a traditional herbal medicine and valuable nourishing tonic. Revealing the spatial distribution changes of important endogenous molecules during plant development is of great significance for investigating the physiological roles, nutritional and potential functional values of phytochemicals in wolfberry fruit. However, their spatial distribution information during fruit development has not been extensively explored due to the lack of efficient analytical techniques. In this work, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) was performed to visualize the spatial distribution of the endogenous molecules during fruit development. From the mass spectrum imaging, the choline, betaine and citric acid were distributed evenly throughout the entire fruit at all development stages. The hexose was distributed in the endocarp and flesh tissue, while sucrose was located in the seeds. Additionally, several phenolic acids and flavonoids were accumulated in the exocarp during fruit development, which indicated that they seemingly played protective roles in wolfberry fruit growth progress against abiotic and biotic stress. From the collected data, we found that the signal intensities of citric acid were decreased, while choline, betaine, hexose and sucrose were increased with fruit development. These results indicate that MALDI-MSI may become a favorable tool for studying of the spatial distribution and effective use of endogenous molecules, which provide a simple and intuitive way for authenticity identification, classification of drug food homologous foods and further understanding the physiological roles of endogenous molecules.

An enhanced strategy integrating offline superimposed two-dimensional separation with mass defect filter and diagnostic ion filter: Comprehensive characterization of steroid alkaloids in Fritillariae Pallidiflorae Bulbus as a case study

The inherent complexity of traditional Chinese medicines necessitates the application of multi-dimensional information to accomplish comprehensive profiling and confirmative identification of their chemical components. In this study, we display an enhanced strategy by integrating offline superimposed two-dimensional separation (S-2D-LC) with mass defect filter and diagnostic ion filter to comprehensively characterize the alkaloid composition of Fritillariae Pallidiflorae Bulbus (FPB). The superimposed HILIC × RP and UPCC × RP offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography system was constructed with superior orthogonality (R²=0.004 and R²=0.001) for chromatographic separation. In total, 70 fractions were collected after the first-dimensional chromatographic separation (HILIC and UPCC) and then analyzed by the second-dimensional reversed phase (RP) liquid chromatography coupled with Q-TOF/MS/MS in FAST DDA acquisition mode. A four-step interpretation strategy combining mass defect filter with diagnostic ion filter was developed to rapidly characterize alkaloids in Fritillaria species. Ultimately, a sum of 529 Fritillaria alkaloids were characterized from two botanical origins of FPB. The integrated strategy is practical to efficiently expose and comprehensively characterize more trace and isomeric components in complex herbal medicines.