Articles
Metabolomics insight into the effect of bleaching on cardoon stalks cultivated in Tuscany region
Article number
1424_10
Pages
81 – 88
Language
English
Abstract
Bleaching of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. altilis) consisting in the exposure of stalks to dark conditions for a few weeks in the field, is a usual practice in agriculture to decrease the bitterness and to empathize flavor and tenderness of cardoon.
In this context, little information is available on the effect of bleaching on nutraceutical quality of cardoon stalks.
The present work aims to investigate the effect of bleaching on the biosynthesis of plant metabolites with nutraceutical and antioxidant properties through a mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach. C. cardunculus Lucchese, a typical cultivar of the Tuscany region, was analyzed after 20 and 40 days of bleaching treatment against control plants (CNT) non-subjected to bleaching.
Moreover, different bleaching techniques were compared: burying (B) and covering with a plastic sheet (PS). To explore these differences a supervised OPLS-DA modeling was used to underline these variations.
OPLS-DA showed a discrimination on the second latent vector between bleached (B or PS) and CNT samples, especially after 40 days treatment.
Thus, after 20 days, B treatment exhibited a general increase of secondary metabolites, defined by an increase in phenylpropanoids and nitrogen-containing metabolites while a decrease in terpenes, while a decrease of secondary metabolites was evidenced in stalks after PS treatment.
The latter pattern reversed after 40 days (the adequate time for the cardoon edibility) where PS treatment showed a positive modulation of secondary metabolism, defined by an increase in nitrogen containing secondary metabolites and phenylpropanoids.
Presented data are a contribution to understand secondary metabolite pathways involved in antioxidant and nutraceutical quality of cardoon stalks subjected to bleaching and the consequent change of flavor and taste of this food product.
In this context, little information is available on the effect of bleaching on nutraceutical quality of cardoon stalks.
The present work aims to investigate the effect of bleaching on the biosynthesis of plant metabolites with nutraceutical and antioxidant properties through a mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach. C. cardunculus Lucchese, a typical cultivar of the Tuscany region, was analyzed after 20 and 40 days of bleaching treatment against control plants (CNT) non-subjected to bleaching.
Moreover, different bleaching techniques were compared: burying (B) and covering with a plastic sheet (PS). To explore these differences a supervised OPLS-DA modeling was used to underline these variations.
OPLS-DA showed a discrimination on the second latent vector between bleached (B or PS) and CNT samples, especially after 40 days treatment.
Thus, after 20 days, B treatment exhibited a general increase of secondary metabolites, defined by an increase in phenylpropanoids and nitrogen-containing metabolites while a decrease in terpenes, while a decrease of secondary metabolites was evidenced in stalks after PS treatment.
The latter pattern reversed after 40 days (the adequate time for the cardoon edibility) where PS treatment showed a positive modulation of secondary metabolism, defined by an increase in nitrogen containing secondary metabolites and phenylpropanoids.
Presented data are a contribution to understand secondary metabolite pathways involved in antioxidant and nutraceutical quality of cardoon stalks subjected to bleaching and the consequent change of flavor and taste of this food product.
This paper comes with a supplementary table.
Click here to download the .xlsx file containing the supplemental data.
Authors
C. Ceccanti, B. Miras-Moreno, L. Lucini, L. Guidi, L. Incrocci
Keywords
secondary metabolites, cardoon quality, bleaching, metabolomics approach
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