Systematic investigation and lipidomic profiles composition characterization in leaves of five Amaryllidaceae species by HRGC-MS technique

Abstract

This study describes a comparative of the lipidomic profiles of the leaves of the species Crinum americanum L, Crinum jagus, Crinum erubescens, Hippeastrum puniceum and Hymenocallis littoralis belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family and the potential pharmaceutical metabolites applications. The extract obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction with n-hexane was submitted to transesterification with MeOH/KOH and derivatization with BSTFA+1% of CSTS. It was applied analytical thin-layer chromatography with chemical reaction (ATLC-CR) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). To discriminate the similarities and differences between the researched species, a critical statistical analysis of the results was performed applying the Heatmap and principal component analysis (PCA) methodologies. The results indicated the presence of the following metabolic classes: monoacylglycerol (MAG), diacylglycerol (DAG), triacylglycerol (TAG), free fatty acids (AGL), steroids (ST), terpenes (TP), phospholipids (FL) and tocopherols (TF), and identify 50 metabolites in the samples, mainly saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and organic acids. Hexadecanoic acid is the major metabolite of all the investigated species, ranging from 16.00% to 23.44% of the extract's composition. The results of statistical analysis also reveal that the extracts from five Amaryllidaceae species have diverse metabolites with demonstrated the grouping between the same genera due to their lipid composition.