Metabolomics analysis of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) fruit pericarp using different extraction methods and GC-MS

Abstract

Garcinia mangostana Linn. (mangosteen) reportedly contains several bioactive metabolites which have been used in various traditional disease treatment, nutritional supplement and skincare products. However, reports detailing its characterization and metabolite content are still scarce. Most of the earlier reports only focused on the extraction of specific metabolites such as xanthones and anthocyanins, rather than a comprehensive metabolome profile. In this study, global metabolomics approach using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was conducted to profile the metabolite content of mangosteen fruit pericarp harvested at the final stage of ripening (dark purple stage). Five different extraction methods, which vary in their solvent mixtures, solvent ratios, with or without sonication were compared, aimed to maximize metabolite detection from the mangosteen tissue. The results showed that the method using a combined solvent mixture of methanol/chloroform/water (3:1:1 v/v ratio) with sonication has consistent reproducibility amongst biological replicates and successfully yielded the highest number of metabolites compared to the other methods. By combining the results of different extraction methods, we tentatively identified a total of 73 metabolites comprising of sugars (49.32%), alcohols (9.59%), sugar acids (8.22%), organic acids (6.85%), phenolic acids (5.48%), aromatic compounds (2.74%) and aldehyde (1.37%). This finding provides an overview of the metabolite content of mangosteen pericarp and comprehensive assessment of extraction methods for an untargeted metabolomics approach of this beneficial fruit.

Recent updates on metabolite composition and medicinal benefits of mangosteen plant

“…Furthermore, mangosteen compounds have also been profiled using metabolomics approach. Using GC-MS analysis, Mamat et al (2018a) reported that mangosteen pericarp contains mainly sugars (nearly 50% of total metabolites) followed by traces of other metabolite classes such as sugar acids, alcohols, organic acids, and aromatic compounds. This study also found several phenolics such as benzoic acid, tyrosol, and protocatechuic acid which are known to possess anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities (Lin et al, 2009; Ortega-García & Peragón, 2010).…”

Valorization of mangosteen, “The Queen of Fruits,” and new advances in postharvest and in food and engineering applications: A review

“…Other metabolites, including sugars (fructose and glucose) and amino acids (tryptophan, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, tyrosine, and serine), also increased during ripening in various mangosteen tissues (either pericarp, aril, or seeds), suggesting concerted metabolic activities during the process [27]. Other reports have also demonstrated that carbohydrates and simple sugars were abundantly present in the fruit pericarp [28], [29].…”

Systematic Multi-Omics Integration (MOI) Approach in Plant Systems Biology

“…This approach enables the user to predict different aspects or trends of data sets, including the discovery of variance or covariance associations (Meng et al, 2014) as well as investigating the dynamic relationships and topological networks between transcript/protein/metabolite elements (Weckwerth, 2019). Among the most common multivariate techniques are principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS) and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) (Mamat et al, 2018;Mazlan et al, 2018;Reinke et al, 2018). Selecting different multivariate techniques, optimal parameters, and model validation can be overwhelming for new users, and hence several reading materials on this topic provide excellent learning resources (Tabachnick et al, 2007;Meng et al, 2014;Saccenti and Timmerman, 2016).…”