Abstract
Lipids play many essential roles in living organisms, which accounts for the great diversity of these amphiphilic molecules within the individual lipid classes, while their composition depends on intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Recent developments in mass spectrometric methods have significantly contributed to the widespread application of the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) approach to the analysis of plant lipids. However, only a few investigators have studied the extensive composition of grape lipids. The present work describes the development of an ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method that includes 8098 MRM; the method has been validated using a reference sample of grapes at maturity with a successful analysis and semi-quantification of 412 compounds. The aforementioned method was subsequently applied also to the analysis of the lipid profile variation during the Ribolla Gialla cv. grape maturation process. The partial least squares (PLS) regression model fitted to our experimental data showed that a higher proportion of certain glycerophospholipids (i.e., glycerophosphoethanolamines, PE and glycerophosphoglycerols, PG) and of some hydrolysates from those groups (i.e., lyso-glycerophosphocholines, LPC and lyso-glycerophosphoethanolamines, LPE) can be positively associated with the increasing °Brix rate, while a negative association was found for ceramides (CER) and galactolipids digalactosyldiacylglycerols (DGDG). The validated method has proven to be robust and informative for profiling grape lipids, with the possibility of application to other studies and matrices.
Highlights
As stated by the Consortium of Lipid Metabolites and Pathways Strategy (LipidMAPS), lipids can be defined as small amphiphilic or hydrophobic molecules that are insoluble or partially soluble in water [1]
Lipids with 18:2 and 16:0 fatty acid chains prevailed in our grape samples, which was confirmed by the area percentage of chains found in the reference grape extract (Figure S1B)
The instrument parameters were optimized using the standard mix as described in the Materials and Methods section; following LIPID MAPS® recommendations [35], four categories of compounds were considered in the method, with their relevant Multiple
Summary
MAPS), lipids can be defined as small amphiphilic or hydrophobic molecules that are insoluble or partially soluble in water [1]. Their role is essential for all eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms, since they affect the cellular membrane structures and protein–membrane interactions, provide a source of energy through oxidation processes and serve as signaling molecules [2]. Each category is further divided into classes and subclasses, which substantially leads to a wide-ranging diversity of lipid species in complex biological matrices, known as lipidome [3,4]. Due to the chemical complexity and wide concentration range of the lipids present in biological matrices, to identify and potentially quantify all lipids simultaneously with a single analytical strategy is a challenging task [1].
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