Metabolomics analysis reveals the accumulation patterns of flavonoids and phenolic acids in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) grains of different colors

Guangtao Qian; Xiangyu Li; Heng Zhang; Hailong Zhang; Jingwen Zhou; Xiaohui Ma; Wei Sun; Wei Yang; Ruikun He; Atia-Tul Wahab; Huihua Wan; Lixin Li

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100594

Metabolomics analysis reveals the accumulation patterns of flavonoids and phenolic acids in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) grains of different colors

Food Chem X. 2023 Feb 6:17:100594. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100594. eCollection 2023 Mar 30.

Authors

Guangtao Qian¹, Xiangyu Li², Heng Zhang³, Hailong Zhang¹, Jingwen Zhou¹, Xiaohui Ma¹, Wei Sun⁴, Wei Yang⁴, Ruikun He⁵, Atia-Tul Wahab⁶, Huihua Wan⁴, Lixin Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
² Institute of Crop Resources, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201602, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Beijing for Identification and Safety Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
⁵ Byhealth Institute of Nutrition & Health, Guangzhou 510663, China.
⁶ Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

Abstract

Quinoa grains are gaining increasing popularity owing to their high nutritional merits. However, only limited information is available on the metabolic profiles of quinoa grains. In this study, we determined the metabolic profiles of black, red, and white quinoa grains via an ultraperformance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS)-based metabolomics. A total of 689 metabolites were identified, among which 251, 182, and 317 metabolites displayed different accumulation patterns in the three comparison groups (Black vs Red, Black vs White, and Red vs White), respectively. In particular, flavonoid and phenolic acid contents displayed considerable differences, with 22 flavonoids, 5 phenolic acids, and 1 betacyanin being differentially accumulated among the three quinoa cultivars. Additionally, correlation analysis showed that flavonoids and phenolic acids could act as betanin co-pigments in quinoa grains. In conclusion, this study provides comprehensive insights into the adequate utilization and development of novel quinoa-based functional foods.

Keywords: Flavonoids; Metabolic profiles; Phenolic acids; Quinoa grains; UPLC-ESI-MS/MS.