title: Characterization and Discrimination of Ancient Grains: A Metabolomics Approach.
abstract: Hulled, or ancient, wheats were the earliest domesticated wheats by mankind and the ancestors of current wheats. Their cultivation drastically decreased during the 1960s; however, the increasing demand for a healthy and equilibrated diet led to rediscovering these grains. Our aim was to use a non-targeted metabolomic approach to discriminate and characterize similarities and differences between ancient Triticum varieties. For this purpose, 77 hulled wheat samples from three different varieties were collected: Garfagnana T. turgidum var. dicoccum L. (emmer), ID331 T. monococcum L. (einkorn) and Rouquin T. spelta L. (spelt). The ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF) metabolomics approach highlighted a pronounced sample clustering according to the wheat variety, with an excellent predictability (Q²), for all the models built. Fifteen metabolites were tentatively identified based on accurate masses, isotopic pattern, and product ion spectra. Among these, alkylresorcinols (ARs) were found to be significantly higher in spelt and emmer, showing different homologue composition. Furthermore, phosphatidylcholines (PC) and lysophosphatidylcholines (lysoPC) levels were higher in einkorn variety. The results obtained in this study confirmed the importance of ARs as markers to distinguish between Triticum species and revealed their values as cultivar markers, being not affected by the environmental influences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 95/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. laurarighetti@live.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Righetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technicka 3, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic. rubertbj@vscht.cz.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rubert
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 95/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. gianni.galaverna@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galaverna
authors.affiliation: Open Fields Srl, Strada Consortile 2, Collecchio, 43044 Parma, Italy. s.folloni@openfields.it.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Folloni
authors.affiliation: Open Fields Srl, Strada Consortile 2, Collecchio, 43044 Parma, Italy. info@openfields.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technicka 3, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic. zacharim@vscht.cz.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stranska-Zachariasova
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technicka 3, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic. jana.hajslova@vscht.cz.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hajslova
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 95/A, 43124 Parma, Italy. chiara.dallasta@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dall'Asta
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D014908:Triticum / Q000145:classification* / Q000378:metabolism*
keywords: foodomics; lipidomics; non-targeted metabolomics; phenolic lipid compounds; small grains