Profiles of Secondary Metabolites (Phenolic Acids, Carotenoids, Anthocyanins, and Galantamine) and Primary Metabolites (Carbohydrates, Amino Acids, and Organic Acids) during Flower Development in Lycoris radiata

Chang Ha Park,Ye Eun Park,Ramaraj Sathasivam,Jae Kwang Kim,Bao Van Nguyen,Sang Un Park,Hyeon Ji Yeo,Ye Jin Kim

doi:10.3390/biom11020248

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the variations in primary and secondary metabolites during Lycoris radiata flower development using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). The result showed that seven carotenoids, seven phenolic acids, three anthocyanins, and galantamine were identified in the L. radiata flowers. Most secondary metabolite levels gradually decreased according to the flower developmental stages. A total of 51 metabolites, including amines, sugars, sugar intermediates, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, phenolic acids, and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates, were identified and quantified using GC-TOFMS. Among the hydrophilic compounds, most amino acids increased during flower development; in contrast, TCA cycle intermediates and sugars decreased. In particular, glutamine, asparagine, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid, which represent the main inter- and intracellular nitrogen carriers, were positively correlated with the other amino acids and were negatively correlated with the TCA cycle intermediates. Furthermore, quantitation data of the 51 hydrophilic compounds were subjected to partial least-squares discriminant analyses (PLS-DA) to assess significant differences in the metabolites of L. radiata flowers from stages 1 to 4. Therefore, this study will serve as the foundation for a biochemical approach to understand both primary and secondary metabolism in L. radiata flower development.

Highlights

IntroductionThe Lycoris species, belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, is native to eastern
This study aimed to provide valuable information on metabolite changes according to the four different floral development stages of Lycoris radiata (Figure 1) and to determine the possible relationships between diverse metabolites including primary (amine, sugars, sugar intermediates, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates) and secondary metabolites
25 metabolites were identified, as these compounds had a significant Variable importance in projection (VIP) value (Figure S9). These findings indicate that there are significant differences in the primary metabolism of L. radiata flowers from stages 1 to 4

Summary

Introduction

The Lycoris species, belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, is native to eastern. Asian countries like Korea, China, and Japan, and mainly inhabit moist, warm-temperate woodlands [1]. Lycoris radiata is considered medicinally and ornamentally important, as the flowers have been used for decoration and the bulbs are known to produce alkaloids with various medicinal properties [2]. Galantamine is a tertiary alkaloid isolated from the bulbs or flowers of Amaryllidaceae plants and is used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease. Alkaloids identified in this plant species have beneficial effects such as anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activi-

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Conclusion