Abstract
Lemna species have been used in the food, feed, and pharmaceutical industries, as they are inexpensive sources of proteins, starches, and fatty acids. In this study, we treated L. paucicostata with different concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, or 1 mM) of ethephon. The total dry weight decreased in all ethephon-treated groups compared to the control group. We also investigated the alteration of metabolic profiles induced by ethephon treatment by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This analysis identified 48 metabolites, and the relative levels of most of alcohols, amino acids, fatty acids, and phenols increased by the ethephon treatment, whereas levels of organic acids and sugars decreased. Among these, the highest production of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA, 5.041 ± 1.373 mg/L) and ferulic acid (0.640 ± 0.071 mg/L) was observed in the 0.5 mM and the 0.2 mM ethephon treatment groups, respectively. These results could be useful for large-scale culture of L. paucicostata with enhanced GABA and ferulic acid content for utilization in the food, feed, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.
Highlights
Lemna paucicostata, known as Lemna aequinoctialis, is one of the 37 known Lemnaceae species, which typically inhabits lakes as a floating plant [1]
We observed that the total number of fronds of L. paucicostata increased under 0.05 and 0.1 mM ethephon treatment, whereas it decreased under 0.2, 0.5, and 1 mM ethephon treatment (S2 Fig)
Based on the altered metabolic profiles induced by ethephon treatment, we focused on caffeic acid, GABA, and ferulic acid, which showed increased relative intensity levels in unit cells and are known to be beneficial for human health and disease control [42,43,44,45,46,47]
Summary
Known as Lemna aequinoctialis, is one of the 37 known Lemnaceae species, which typically inhabits lakes as a floating plant [1]. Lemnaceae species containing a high concentration of inexpensive proteins, starches, and fatty acids are already used in the food industry, in soups, curries, and salads [3]. They are widely used traditionally as analgesics, anthelminthics, antiinflammatory medicines, and for the treatment of some throat and nose diseases in China, Russia, and some European countries [4].
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