Comparative Untargeted Metabolic Profiling of Different Parts of Citrus sinensis Fruits via Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Coupled with Multivariate Data Analyses to Unravel Authenticity

authored by

Sherif M. Afifi, Eman M. Kabbash, Ralf G. Berger, Ulrich Krings, Tuba Esatbeyoglu

Abstract

Differences between seven authentic samples of Citrus sinensis var. Valencia peel (albedo and flavedo) and juices from Spain and Uruguay, in addition to a concentrate obtained from Brazil, were investigated by untargeted metabolic profiling. Sixty-six metabolites were detected by nano-liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution electrospray-ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (nLC-ESI-qTOF-MS) belonging to phenolic acids, coumarins, flavonoid glycosides, limonoids, terpenes, and fatty acids. Eleven metabolites were detected for the first time in Citrus sinensis and identified as citroside A, sinapic acid pentoside, apigenin-C-hexosyl-O-pentoside, chrysoeriol-C-hexoside, di-hexosyl-diosmetin, perilloside A, gingerol, ionone epoxide hydroxy-sphingenine, xanthomicrol, and coumaryl alcohol-O-hexoside. Some flavonoids were completely absent from the juice, while present most prominently in the Citrus peel, conveying more industrial and economic prospects to the latter. Multivariate data analyses clarified that the differences among orange parts overweighed the geographical source. PCA analysis of ESI-(−)-mode data revealed for hydroxylinoleic acid abundance in flavedo peel from Uruguay the most distant cluster from all others. The PCA analysis of ESI-(+)-mode data provided a clear segregation of the different Citrus sinensis parts primarily due to the large diversity of flavonoids and coumarins among the studied samples.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Food Chemistry
Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Molecular Food Chemistry and Food Development

External Organisation(s)

University of Sadat City
National Organization for Drug Control and Research, Cairo

Type

Article

Journal

Foods

Volume

12

Publication date

29.01.2023

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science), Food Science, Health Professions (miscellaneous), Plant Science, Microbiology

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12030579 (Access: Open)