Phytochemical profiling of three Amaranthus species using LC-MS/MS metabolomic approach and chemometric tools

Ghada Abdel-Moez; Bharathi Avula; Hanaa Sayed; Azza Khalifa; Samir Ross; Kumar Katragunta; Ikhlas Khan; Shaymaa Mohamed

doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115722

Phytochemical profiling of three Amaranthus species using LC-MS/MS metabolomic approach and chemometric tools

J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2023 Nov 30:236:115722. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115722. Epub 2023 Sep 14.

Authors

Ghada Abdel-Moez¹, Bharathi Avula², Hanaa Sayed¹, Azza Khalifa¹, Samir Ross³, Kumar Katragunta², Ikhlas Khan⁴, Shaymaa Mohamed¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt.
² National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
³ National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA; Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA; Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Electronic address: sross@olemiss.edu.
⁴ National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA; Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.

PMID: 37742505
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2023.115722

Abstract

Several Amaranthus vegetables (Amaranthaceae) have been recognized as valuable sources of minerals, vitamins, proteins, and phytonutrients, with health-promoting characteristics. In this study, three edible Amaranthus species, namely A. hybridus (AH), A. blitum (AB), and A. caudatus (AC), were chemically characterized using non-targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technique. Further, multivariate chemometric analyses were conducted, including principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation-covariance plot (C-C plot). As a result, forty-one diverse compounds were identified, which varied in distribution and abundance across the investigated species. Amino acids and flavonoid glycosides were the most prevalent metabolites. Other identified compounds comprised nucleoside, chlorogenic acids, hydroxy cinnamoyl amides, and triterpenoid saponins. The most discriminant metabolites were flavonoid glycosides and hydroxy cinnamoyl amides, giving each species a chemotaxonomic identity. Advancing the chemotaxonomy of Amaranthaceae, adenosine nucleoside and N-coumaroyl-ʟ-tryptophan were first reported from this family. Isorhamnetin and tricin glycosides were uniquely identified in AC, offering useful chemotaxonomic markers for this species. Notably, AB and AH profiles shared most metabolites, yet with varying abundance. These include adenosine, nicotiflorin, dicaffeoylquinic acids, and N-trans-feruloyl-4-O-methyldopamine. However, N-coumaroyl-ʟ-tryptophan and kaempferol dirhamnoside were exclusively found in AB, separating it from AH. In conclusion, the applied analytical techniques established molecular fingerprints for the included species, identified specific biomarkers, and investigated their interconnections.

Keywords: Amaranthus; Chemical profiling; Chemometrics; Chemotaxonomic markers; N-coumaroyl-ʟ-tryptophan; Principal component analysis.