Abstract
Herein, the generation of decarboxylated derivatives of gomphrenin pigments exhibiting potential health-promoting properties and the kinetics of their extraction during tea brewing from the purple flowers of Gomphrena globosa L. in aqueous and aqueous citric acid solutions were investigated. Time-dependent concentration monitoring of natural gomphrenins and their tentative identification was carried out by LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS. The high content of acylated gomphrenins and their principal decarboxylation products, 2-, 15-, 17-decarboxy-gomphrenins, along with minor levels of their bidecarboxylated derivatives, were reported in the infusions. The identification was supported by the determination of molecular formulas of the extracted pigments by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LCMS-IT-TOF). The influence of plant matrix on gomphrenins’ stability and generation of their derivatives, including the extraction kinetics, was determined by studying the concentration profiles in the primary and diluted infusions. Isolated and purified acylated gomphrenins from the same plant material were used for the preliminary determination of their decarboxylated derivatives. The acylated gomphrenins were found to be more stable than nonacylated ones. Citric acid addition had a degradative influence on natural gomphrenins mainly during the longer tea brewing process (above 15 min); however, the presence of plant matrix significantly increased the stability for betacyanins’ identification.
Highlights
Gomphrena globosa L. commonly known as globe amaranth is an annual herbaceous, edible plant belonging to the family of Amaranthaceae
The presence of sinapoyled diastereomers 20/20 has never been confirmed in natural extracts of G. globose, except for low-resolution mass spectrometry (Table 1) [12,22]; additional high-resolution measurements and confirmation of the molecular formulas were performed by LCMS-IT-TOF (Figure 2, Table 2)
Higher absorbance values were observed for the samples which were extracted in aqueous solutions I(nFti.gJ.uMreol.3SAci,.B20)2i0n, 2c1o,m88p34arison to aqueous citric acid solutions
Summary
Gomphrena globosa L. commonly known as globe amaranth is an annual herbaceous, edible plant belonging to the family of Amaranthaceae. Dried gomphrena blossoms are characterized by unique fragrance and exhibit numerous pro-health properties They are commonly used for the preparation of tea infusions. The violet G. globosa inflorescences are a precious source of many antioxidants involving betalains These compounds are proven to exhibit numerous pro-health properties, owing to the high content of hydroxyl groups that participate in free radical scavenging [3,4,5,6,7]. It is worth noting that betacyanins acylated by hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives are present in gomphrena flowers at relatively high levels. To simplify, they are frequently denominated as gomphrenins. Research on the influence of citric acid addition and matrix presence on the stability of the compounds during the preparation of G. globosa infusions as well as the comparative experiments with single purified gomphrenins derived from G. globosa flowers was performed
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