Accumulation patterns of flavonoids and phenolic acids in different colored sweet potato flesh revealed based on untargeted metabolomics.

ABSTRACT

Sweet potatoes are rich in flavonoids and phenolic acids, showing incomparable nutritional and health value. In this investigation, we comprehensively analyzed the secondary metabolite profiles in the flesh of different-colored sweet potato flesh. We determined the metabolomic profiles of white sweet potato flesh (BS), orange sweet potato flesh (CS), and purple sweet potato flesh (ZS) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The CS vs. BS, ZS vs. BS, and ZS vs. CS comparisons identified a total of 4447 secondary metabolites, including 1540, 1949, and 1931 differentially accumulated metabolites. Among them, there were significant differences in flavonoids and phenolic acids. There were 20 flavonoids and 13 phenolic acids that were common differential metabolites among the three comparison groups. The accumulation of paeoniflorin-like and delphinidin-like compounds may be responsible for the purple coloration of sweet potato flesh. These findings provide new rationale and insights for the development of functional foods for sweet potatoes. List of compounds Kaempferol (PubChem CID 5280863); Peonidin 3-(6"-p-coumarylglucoside) (PubChem CID 44256849); Swerchirin (PubChem CID 5281660); Trilobatin (PubChem CID 6451798); 3-Geranyl-4-hydroxybenzoate (PubChem CID 54730540); Eupatorin (PubChem CID 97214); Icaritin (PubChem CID 5318980); Isorhamnetin (PubChem CID 5281654); Glucoliquiritin apioside (PubChem CID 74819335); Brazilin (PubChem CID 73384).