Unravelling Chemical Composition of Agave Spines: News from Agave fourcroydes Lem.

Abstract

Spines are key plant modifications developed to deal against herbivores; however, its physical structure and chemical composition have been little explored in plant species. Here, we took advantage of high-throughput chromatography to characterize chemical composition of Agave fourcroydes Lem. spines, a species traditionally used for fiber extraction. Analyses of structural carbohydrate showed that spines have lower cellulose content than leaf fibers (52 and 72%, respectively) but contain more than 2-fold the hemicellulose and 1.5-fold pectin. Xylose and galacturonic acid were enriched in spines compared to fibers. The total lignin content in spines was 1.5-fold higher than those found in fibers, with elevated levels of syringyl (S) and guaiacyl (G) subunits but similar S/G ratios within tissues. Metabolomic profiling based on accurate mass spectrometry revealed the presence of phenolic compounds including quercetin, kaempferol, (+)-catechin, and (−)-epicatechin in A. fourcroydes spines, which were also detected in situ in spines tissues and could be implicated in the color of these plants’ structures. Abundance of (+)-catechins could also explain proanthocyanidins found in spines. Agave spines may become a plant model to obtain more insights about cellulose and lignin interactions and condensed tannin deposition, which is valuable knowledge for the bioenergy industry and development of naturally dyed fibers, respectively.

Hunting Bioactive Molecules from the Agave Genus: An Update on Extraction and Biological Potential

“…Morán-Velázquez et al [33] investigated the use of accelerated solvent extraction as applied to young leaf spines of A. fourcroydes Lem. The extracts were plentiful in proanthocyanidins; this was confirmed by UHPLC-MS/MS.…”

Agave By-Products: An Overview of Their Nutraceutical Value, Current Applications, and Processing Methods

“…Additionally, most of the by-products are of great interest for biofuels and composites fabrication. Spines and stalks, although exploited to a lesser extent, represent an interesting source of bioactive compounds, bio colorants, and fibers for the textile industry, and could be a substrate for saccharification [35,36]. Leaves, bagasse, and fibers (from leaves and stems) are the main by-products or residues generated by the agave industry; however, the spines, cuticle, and stalks are being explored for their important content of cellulose and some bioactive compounds.…”

“…Spines and stalks, although exploited to a lesser extent, represent an interesting source of bioactive compounds, bio colorants, and fibers for the textile industry, and could be a substrate for saccharification [35,36].…”

“…There are some differences in the composition of leaves and bagasse; it is known that bagasse contains higher amounts of simple sugars and xylan [26], whereas leaves and stalks are richer in lignin. Spines represent an interesting source of hemicellulose, since their content is comparable to that of cellulose [35]; other valuable compounds identified in spines include flavonoids, condensed tannins, and monolignol subunits. Although scarce studies are published on the chemical composition of foliar cuticle, all reported water, cutin and cutan as its main components [51].…”

Agave spins and Gingko Biloba leaves to exorcise the passage from BCC to real skin melanoma during time

“…For instance about 110 flavonoids have been reported to have unambiguous structures, including flavonol and its glycosides, flavone and its glycosides, flavanone and its glycosides, isoflavone and its glycosides, flavan-3-ols, bioflavonoids, and biginkgosides. In recent years, in addition to new flavonoids, new terpenoids and lignan have been also isolated from GBL [16].…”