UHPLC-QTOF-IMS-Based Metabolite Fingerprinting of Underutilized <i>Cordia myxa</i> Fruits and Leaves: A Nutraceutical Source
Anil Kumar, Robin Joshi, Amol Vasishth, Vipan Guleria, Dinesh Kumar
Abstract
The present investigation focused on the chemical composition and metabolomics of Cordia myxa fruits and leaves collected from five locations in Himachal Pradesh, India. Both fruits and leaves exhibited a substantial amount of phenolics in the range of 9.65–26.22 mg GAE/g and 5.35–33.28 mg GAE/g, respectively, followed by appreciable flavonoid content. Higher antioxidant activity was detected in Shahpur leaf extract (SLE) (IC50ABTS 0.27 mg/mL) and Raja ka Talab fruit extract (RFE) (IC50ABTS 0.21 mg/mL) among different harvesting locations of C. myxa. A higher amount of vanillic acid and rutin was detected in Nagrota Surian fruits extract (NFE) by ultraperformance liquid chromatography quadruple time-of-flight ion mobility separation (UHPLC-Q-TOF-IMS). However, glycine, alanine, and isoleucine (ile) were also quantified at higher levels. Fruit extracts exhibited a promising amount of ascorbic acid and macroelements and microelements, whereas a total of 44 unknown compounds were identified by ultraperformance liquid chromatography quadruple time-of-flight ion mobility separation (UHPLC-Q-TOF-IMS) based on a nontargeted approach. This comprehensive metabolomic report brings new insights into metabolite distribution and its possible future implementations in food and nutraceuticals.