Metabolome and Essential Element Analyses of Five Underutilized European Crops Reveal Their Nutritional Properties...

Background/Objectives: People in the developed world tend to consume food that is rich in calories but lacks sufficient nutrients such as essential minerals, vitamins, and other health-promoting metabolites. At the same time, hunger and malnutrition are still problems in other countries. Therefore, various forms of micronutrient deficiencies and diseases caused by unbalanced nutrition are global issues. Methods: In order to elucidate the beneficial potential of alternative food sources, we employed state-of-the-art UHPLC-MS and ICP-MS technologies to perform comprehensive metabolome and metallome analyses of five edible European plants, some of which are known as underutilized crops: Achillea millefolium, Agastache rugosa, Cercis siliquastrum, Crithmum maritimum, and Mespilus germanica. Results: This study reveals valuable nutritional properties such as high levels of essential amino acids, sugars, organic acids, health-promoting secondary metabolites, and essential microelements that are important for human diet. The analyzed samples indicate that A. millefolium, C. siliquastrum, and M. germanica could be marked as a viable source of beneficial flavonoids. In turn, both leaves and fruits of A. rugosa had elevated abundances of organic acids, along with A. millefolium and C. siliquastrum. Similar results were observed for amino acids. Conclusions: Taken as a whole, the fruits of C. siliquastrum could be described as the best source for most of the identified compounds. The M. germanica samples were rich in mineral contents, with indications that they can supply 26% of the recommended daily intake per 100 g for K, 16% for Mg, 26% for Fe, 63% for Mn, and 89% for B. The leaves of C. maritimum and A. millefolium are also a good source of K and Mn. Interestingly, the sampled leaves of C. maritimum contained a very high amount of B, representing more than three times the reference nutrient value for 100 g of plant material. In conclusion, these underutilized species can be used to diversify the European food systems by enriching our diets with essential nutrients and health-promoting metabolites.