Seeds of domesticated Vicia (vetch)
species (family Fabaceae-Faboideae)
are produced and consumed worldwide for their nutritional value. Seed
accessions belonging to 16 different species of Viciaboth
domesticated and wild taxawere subjected to a chemotaxonomic
study using ultraperformance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry
(UPLC-MS) analyzed by chemometrics. A total of 89 metabolites were
observed in the examined Vicia accessions. Seventy-eight out of the
89 detected metabolites were annotated. Metabolites quantified belonged
to several classes, viz., flavonoids, procyanidins, prodelphinidins,
anthocyanins, stilbenes, dihydrochalcones, phenolic acids, coumarins,
alkaloids, jasmonates, fatty acids, terpenoids, and cyanogenics, with
flavonoids and fatty acids amounting to the major classes. Flavonoids,
fatty acids, and anthocyanins showed up as potential chemotaxonomic
markers in Vicia species discrimination. Fatty acids were more enriched
in Vicia faba specimens, while the
abundance of flavonoids was the highest in Vicia parviflora. Anthocyanins allowed for discrimination between Vicia hirsuta and Vicia sepium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on employing
UPLC-MS metabolomics to discern the diversity of metabolites at the
intrageneric level among Vicia species.