The
effects of experimental repetitions and solvent extractors
on the 1H NMR fingerprinting of yerba mate extracts, obtained
from two genders and two light environments, were analyzed in-depth
by ANOVA–simultaneous component analysis (ASCA). Different
solvents were used according to a mixture design based on ethanol,
dichloromethane, and hexane and their combinations. The number of
experimental repetitions significantly affected the ASCA results.
Increasing repetitions led to decreases in the percentage effect variance
values and an increase in the percentage residual variance. However,
secondary sexual dimorphism, light availability, and their interaction
effects became more significant with decreasing p-values at or above the 95% confidence level. The choice of a solvent
extractor significantly affects the chemical profile and can lead
to distinct conclusions regarding the significance of effect values.
Pure solvents yielded different conclusions about the significance
of factorial design effects, with each solvent extracting unique metabolites
and maximizing information for specific effects. However, the use
of binary solvent mixtures, such as ethanol–dichloromethane,
proved more efficient in extracting sets of compounds that simultaneously
differentiate between different experimental conditions. The mixture
design–fingerprint strategy provided satisfactory results expanding
the range of extracted metabolites with high percentage of residual
variances and low explained percentage effect variances in the ASCA
models. Ternary and even higher-ordered mixtures could be good alternative
extracting media for work-intensive procedures. Our study underscores
the significance of experimental design and solvent selection in metabolomic
analysis, improving the accuracy, robustness, and interpretability
of metabolomic models, leading to a better understanding of the chemical
composition and biological implications of plant extracts.