A UHPLC-HRMS based metabolomics and chemoinformatics approach to chemically distinguish 'super foods' from a variety of plant-based foods

Francesca Di Ottavio; Julia M Gauglitz; Madeleine Ernst; Morgan W Panitchpakdi; Federico Fanti; Dario Compagnone; Pieter C Dorrestein; Manuel Sergi

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.126071

A UHPLC-HRMS based metabolomics and chemoinformatics approach to chemically distinguish 'super foods' from a variety of plant-based foods

Food Chem. 2020 May 30:313:126071. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.126071. Epub 2019 Dec 24.

Authors

Francesca Di Ottavio¹, Julia M Gauglitz², Madeleine Ernst³, Morgan W Panitchpakdi⁴, Federico Fanti⁵, Dario Compagnone⁶, Pieter C Dorrestein⁷, Manuel Sergi⁸

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Italy; Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States.
² Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Center for Newborn Screening, Department of Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States.
⁵ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 31927204
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.126071

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate if the declared benefits associated with superfoods are related to a specific molecular composition. For this purpose, untargeted metabolomics and molecular networking were used to obtain an overview of all features, focusing on compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant or antimicrobial properties. 565 plant-based food samples were analyzed using UHPLC-HRMS and advanced data analysis tools. The molecular networking of the whole dataset allowed identification of a greater diversity of molecules, in particular, prenol lipids, isoflavonoids and isoquinolines in superfoods, when compared with non-superfood species belonging to the same botanical family. Furthermore, in silico tools were used to expand our chemical knowledge of compounds observed in superfood samples.

Keywords: Food; LC–MS/MS; Metabolomics; Superfood; Untargeted MS.

MeSH terms

Anti-Infective Agents / chemistry
Anti-Inflammatory Agents / chemistry
Antioxidants / chemistry
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Food Analysis*
Mass Spectrometry
Metabolomics / methods*
Plants / chemistry*
Plants / metabolism
Principal Component Analysis

Substances

Anti-Infective Agents
Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Antioxidants