A Comparative UHPLC-Q-Trap-MS/MS-Based Metabolomics Analysis to Distinguish Foeniculum vulgare Cultivars’ Antioxidant Extracts

Abstract

Among the environmental factors, seasonality is the one which most affects the metabolome of a plant. Depending on the harvest season, the plant may have a variable content of certain metabolites and thus may have different biological properties. Foeniculum vulgare is an annual plant whose cultivation creates large amounts of waste rich in bioactive compounds. The present investigation was performed with the aim of determining the amount of biologically active compounds in F. vulgare wastes obtained from varieties of different seasonality. Ten polyphenolic compounds were quantified in the little stems and leaves of Tiziano, Pegaso, and Preludio cultivars by ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) hyphenated to QTRAP mass spectrometry by using the MRM (multiple reaction monitoring) method. The antioxidant activity of hydroalcoholic extracts was then evaluated using TEAC and DPPH spectrophotometric assays, followed by a multivariate statistical analysis to determine the correlation between metabolite expression and antioxidant activity. The Preludio variety, grown in summer, showed a higher content of bioactive compounds, which guarantees it a better antioxidant power; kaempferol 3-O-glucuronide, quercetin 3-O-glucuronide, and quercetin 3-O-glucoside are the polyphenolic compounds that could be mainly responsible for the antioxidant effect of fennel. The PLS chemometric model, which correlated quantitative data obtained by a sensitive and selective LC-ESI-QTrap-MS/MS analysis of antioxidant activity, resulted in a selective tool to detect the compounds responsible for the activity shown by the extracts in chemical tests.

Nutraceutical Aspects of Selected Wild Edible Plants of the Italian Central Apennines

“…is a plant belonging to the Apiaceae family and represents one of the most used plants in traditional medicine. It is a plant that grows spontaneously as a native aromatic plant in the large area around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Israel, Egypt, and Tunisia, and on both coasts of the Adriatic Sea: Montenegro, Croatia, and Italy [108,[112][113][114][115][116]181,182]. Alcoholic beverages are often enriched with aromatic components, such as herbs (leaves, roots, seeds, and flowers), fruits (whole fruit, peel, and hazel) and natural sweetening agents [117,183].…”

“…Cirsiliol, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4-CQA); vanillic acid; O-coumaric acid; rosmarinic acid; kaempferol; resveratrol; rutin; myricetin; catechin; quercetin. [[105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120]…”