¹H-NMR and LC-MS Based Metabolomics Analysis of Wild and Cultivated Amaranthus spp

Amaranthus crops are important for their use as food and nutritional sources, as well as for their medicinal properties. They are mostly harvested from the wild, and cultivation of Amaranthus species is still rare, and therefore, attempts are being made to commercialize and market this important crop. This research investigated the effect of cultivation and environment on the chemical profile of both cultivated and wild A. cruentus and A. hybridus by multivariate statistical analysis of spectral data deduced by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Furthermore, wild samples of A. cruentus and A. hybridus were subjected to Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) for further analysis. Through NMR analysis, it was found that maltose and sucrose increased in both cultivated A. cruentus and A. hybridus. Moreover, the amino acid, proline was present in cultivated A. cruentus in high quantity whereas, proline and leucine were prominent in A. hybridus. Other compounds that were found in both wild and cultivated A. cruentus and A. hybridus are trehalose, trigonelline, lactulose, betaine, valine, alanine, fumarate, formate and kynurenine. LC-MS analysis revealed the presence of rutin, 2-phenylethenamine and amaranthussaponin I in both wild A. cruentus and A. hybridus, while chlorogenic acid was identified only in cultivated A. hybridus. On the contrary, L-tryptophan, kaempferol, phenylalanine and quercetin were detected only in wild A. cruentus. Amaranth is not only rich in macro and micronutrients, but the leaves also contain phytochemicals that vary between species and cultivated plants, and might, therefore, affect the medicinal properties of the material.