Comparative NMR-Based Metabolomic and Functional Assessment of Fruit and Vegetable Extracts under Regenerative...

Agricultural practices are increasingly shifting toward more sustainable and regenerative approaches; however, their impact on crop metabolism and associated biological effects remains incompletely understood. In this study, ¹H NMR-based metabolomics combined with functional biological assays was used to investigate metabolic modulation in blueberry, cauliflower, and peach extracts obtained under regenerative and conventional agricultural systems. Metabolic profiling revealed clear, matrix-dependent differences in carbohydrates, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic-related compounds between cultivation strategies. Multivariate analysis (PLS-DA) showed discrimination between regenerative and conventional samples. Cauliflower exhibited the most pronounced metabolic modulation, followed by peach, whereas blueberry showed more selective changes. Functional assays showed enhanced fibroblast migration in peach extracts, increased cytoprotective and detoxifying responses in cauliflower, and antiangiogenic activity in blueberry samples. Overall, these results suggest that agricultural practices may influence the metabolic and functional properties of plant-derived foods and demonstrate the value of combined metabolomic and biological approaches for the comparative evaluation of regenerative production systems.