Anthocyanins, Carotenoids and Chlorophylls in Edible Plant Leaves Unveiled by Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Natural pigments are a quite relevant group of molecules that are widely distributed in nature, possessing a significant role in our daily lives. Besides their colors, natural pigments are currently recognized as having relevant biological properties associated with health benefits, such as anti-tumor, anti-atherogenicity, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory activities, among others. Some of these compounds are easily associated with specific fruits (such as blueberries with anthocyanins, red pitaya with betalain or tomato with lycopene), vegetables (carrots with carotenoids), plant leaves (chlorophylls in green leaves or carotenoids in yellow and red autumn leaves) and even the muscle tissue of vertebrates (such as myoglobin). Despite being less popular as natural pigment sources, edible plant leaves possess a high variety of chlorophylls, as well as a high variety of carotenoids and anthocyanins. The purpose of this review is to critically analyze the whole workflow employed to identify and quantify the most common natural pigments (anthocyanin, carotenoids and chlorophylls) in edible plant leaves using tandem mass spectrometry. Across the literature there, is a lack of consistency in the methods used to extract and analyze these compounds, and this review aims to surpass this issue. Additionally, mass spectrometry has stood out in the context of metabolomics, currently being a widely employed technique in this field. For the three pigments classes, the following steps will be scrutinized: (i) sample pre-preparation, including the solvents and extraction conditions; (ii) details of the chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry experiments (iii) pigment identification and quantification.

Transcriptomic and metabolic analysis unveils the mechanism behind leaf color development in Disanthus cercidifolius var. longipes

“…The color of plant leaves is determined by the pigments in the vacuoles of leaf cells, especially by the levels and ratios of chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanins ( Borges et al, 2022 ). Among these, carotenoids primarily contribute to the formation of yellow, orange, and red colors, whereas anthocyanins mainly result in red, pink, purple, and blue leaves ( Clara, 2022 ). In this study, we explored the variation in pigment accumulation and levels of gene expression at different developmental stages of D. cercidifolius var.…”

Transcriptome and metabolome analyses reveal molecular mechanisms of anthocyanin-related leaf color variation in poplar (Populus deltoides) cultivars

“…The different colors of plant organs depend on the relative content and distribution of the three types of pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanins) (Baek et al, 2012;Sousa, 2022). A previous study reported that a high ratio of anthocyanins relative to the other two pigments (chlorophyll and carotenoids) was detected in a colored-leaf cultivar of P. deltoides ('Caihong', CHP) (Zhuang et al, 2019).…”

Boron homeostasis affects Longan yield: a study of NIP and BOR boron transporter of two cultivars

“…Tissue samples selected for LM were then fixed, sliced, and stained for semithin section LM and TEM following the methodology described by Mesquita et al [ 16 ]. The concentration of sucrose, glucose, Quina cortisol, fructose, cellulose, lignin, starch, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids in the frozen leaf samples from B untreated and B treated plants were analyzed using tandem mass spectrometry method described by C Sousa [ 17 ].…”