Liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry-based targeted metabolomic study for varietal discrimination of grapes according to plant sterols content

摘要

Grapevine and derived products are rich in a wide range of compounds and its quality mainly depends on its metabolites, as a result of viticulture practices. Plant sterols, also called phytosterols (PS), are secondary metabolites regarded as bioactive substance present in grape berries and other plant-based food. The present study deals with a metabolomic approach focusing on phytosterols family in six varieties of Rioja grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha, White Garnacha and Viura), in order to find significant differences among them. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with a quadrupole-time of flight mass analyzer (LC-QTOF) was used to find as many metabolites as possible in the different grape berry fractions, and using statistics to help finding significant clustering of the metabolic profile of pulp, peel and seeds in relation to the variety. The best chromatographic and detection conditions were achieved by gas phase ionization via atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) in positive mode. Furthermore, analysis with electrospray (ESI) is also needed for phytosterol derivatives confirmation.