Abstract
Background: different Solanaceae and Erythroxylaceae species produce tropane alkaloids. These alkaloids are the starting material in the production of different pharmaceuticals. The commercial demand for tropane alkaloids is covered by extracting them from cultivated plants. Datura stramonium is cultivated under greenhouse conditions as a source of tropane alkaloids. Here we investigate the effect of different levels of water availability in the soil on the production of tropane alkaloids by D. stramonium. Methods: We tested four irrigation levels on the accumulation of tropane alkaloids. We analyzed the profile of tropane alkaloids using an untargeted liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method. Results: Using a combination of informatics and manual interpretation of mass spectra, we generated several structure hypotheses for signals in D. stramonium extracts that we assign as putative tropane alkaloids. Quantitation of mass spectrometry signals for our structure hypotheses across different anatomical organs allowed us to identify patterns of tropane alkaloids associated with different levels of irrigation. Furthermore, we identified anatomic partitioning of tropane alkaloid isomers with pharmaceutical applications. Conclusions: Our results show that soil water availability is an effective method for maximizing the production of specific tropane alkaloids for industrial applications.
Highlights
Tropane alkaloids are bicyclic compounds produced by different genera in the Solanaceae and Erythroxylaceae
Our results showed that tropane alkaloid fingerprints and absolute concentrations differ in a tissue-specific manner in response to alkaloid fingerprints and absolute concentrations differ in a tissue-specific manner in response to irrigation levels
We show that irrigation can be tuned to maximize the production of specific, medically relevant aromatic tropane alkaloids in Datura stramonium cultivated under greenhouse conditions
Summary
Tropane alkaloids are bicyclic compounds produced by different genera in the Solanaceae and Erythroxylaceae. These compounds act as anticholinergic agents affecting the central and peripheral nervous system as competitive, non-selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists that prevent the binding of the physiological neurotransmitter acetylcholine [1,2]. The tropane alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and their derivatives are the active ingredients in numerous pharmaceuticals ranging from antidotes for poisoning by organophosphoric compounds, antispasmodics, anti-motion sickness agents, and anti-emetics [3,4,5]. Scopolamine-N-butyl bromide (Buscopan® ) and tiotropium bromide (Spiriva® ) with sales in 2016 of € 236 million and € 2,995 million, respectively, exemplify the lucrative market for tropane alkaloids as pharmaceuticals [7].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
