Selective induction of furanocoumarins in Angelica acutiloba roots by signaling molecule, ethylene and their monoamine oxidase inhibition

Abstract

The level of bioactive metabolites is the most critical factor to become a functional food material. This study offered the practical method to enhance furanocoumarins (FCs) content in Angelica acutiloba which is an herbal vegetable and functional food ingredient. FCs content in root part was significantly increased by the treatment of the signaling molecule, ethylene. Newly increased FC derivatives were annotated as xanthotoxin (XAT), psoralen (PSR), isopimpinellin (IPP), and bergapten (BGT). The contents of FCs continued to increase until they reached the level where XAT (54-fold, 64.9 μg/g → 3499 μg/g), PSR (7-fold, 31.9 μg/g → 214 μg/g), IPP (23-fold, 16.2 μg/g → 375 μg/g), and BGT (51-fold, 29.5 μg/g → 1512 μg/g). Hereby, the content of FC derivatives increased selectively, and other metabolites were not affected by ethylene. The metabolite changes were systematically investigated using UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS analysis to obtain a clear difference in the PLS-DA score, S-plot, and heatmap to explain the gradual fluctuation in the metabolite levels over the treatment time (96 h). Additionally, FCs enriched roots showed a distinctive inhibitory activity against monoamine oxidase (MAO-A and B) compared to control roots because of the increased FCs content. A. acutiloba with greatly enhanced FCs content is applicable as functional food material for new purposes.