Hou Mingming, John Martin Jerome Jeyakumar, Song Yuqiao, Wang Qi, Cao Hongxing, Li Wenrao, Sun Chengxu
School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China.
Coconut Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Wenchang, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2024 Oct 7;15:1468858. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1468858. eCollection 2024.
Coconut meat and coconut water have garnered significant attention for their richness in healthful flavonoids. However, the dynamics of flavonoid metabolites in coconut water during different developmental stages remain poorly understood. This study employed the metabolomics approach using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to investigate the changes in flavonoid metabolite profiles in coconut water from two varieties, 'Wenye No.5'(W5) and Hainan local coconut (CK), across six developmental stages. The results showed that a total of 123 flavonoid metabolites including chalcones, dihydroflavonoids, dihydroflavonols, flavonoids, flavonols, flavonoid carboglycosides, and flavanols were identified in the coconut water as compared to the control. The total flavonoid content in both types of coconut water exhibited a decreasing trend with developmental progression, but the total flavonoid content in CK was significantly higher than that in W5. The number of flavonoid metabolites that differed significantly between the W5 and CK groups at different developmental stages were 74, 74, 60, 92, 40 and 54, respectively. KEGG pathway analysis revealed 38 differential metabolites involved in key pathways for flavonoid biosynthesis and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. This study provides new insights into the dynamics of flavonoid metabolites in coconut water and highlights the potential for selecting and breeding high-quality coconuts with enhanced flavonoid content. The findings have implications for the development of coconut-based products with improved nutritional and functional properties.
椰肉和椰子水因其富含有益健康的类黄酮而备受关注。然而，不同发育阶段椰子水中类黄酮代谢物的动态变化仍知之甚少。本研究采用液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）代谢组学方法，研究了两个品种“文椰五号”（W5）和海南本地椰子（CK）在六个发育阶段椰子水中类黄酮代谢物谱的变化。结果表明，与对照相比，椰子水中共鉴定出123种类黄酮代谢物，包括查耳酮、二氢黄酮、二氢黄酮醇、黄酮、黄酮醇、黄酮碳糖苷和黄烷醇。两种椰子水的总黄酮含量均随发育进程呈下降趋势，但CK的总黄酮含量显著高于W5。W5和CK组在不同发育阶段差异显著的类黄酮代谢物数量分别为74、74、60、92、40和54种。KEGG通路分析显示，有38种差异代谢物参与类黄酮生物合成和次生代谢物生物合成的关键通路。本研究为椰子水中类黄酮代谢物的动态变化提供了新的见解，并突出了选育高黄酮含量优质椰子的潜力。这些发现对开发具有改善营养和功能特性的椰子基产品具有重要意义。
