Multi-Targeted Metabolic Profiling of Carotenoids, Phenolic Compounds and Primary Metabolites in Goji (Lycium spp.) Berry and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Reveals Inter and Intra Genus Biomarkers

Metabolic profile is a key component of fruit quality, which is a challenge to study due to great compound diversity, especially in species with high nutritional value. This study presents optimized analytical methods for metabolic profiling in the fruits of three Solanaceae species: Lycium barbarum, Lycium chinense and Solanum lycopersicum. It includes the most important chemical classes involved in nutrition and taste, i.e., carotenoids, phenolic compounds and primary compounds. Emphasis has been placed on the systematic achievement of good extraction yields, sample stability, and high response linearity using common LC-ESI-TQ-MS and GC-EI-MS apparatuses. A set of 13 carotenoids, 46 phenolic compounds and 67 primary compounds were profiled in fruit samples. Chemometrics revealed metabolic markers discriminating Lycium and Solanum fruits but also Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense fruits and the effect of the crop environment. Typical tomato markers were found to be lycopene, carotene, glutamate and GABA, while lycibarbarphenylpropanoids and zeaxanthin esters characterized goji (Lycium spp.) fruits. Among the compounds discriminating the Lycium species, reported here for the first time to our knowledge, chlorogenic acids, asparagine and quinic acid were more abundant in Lycium chinense, whereas Lycium barbarum accumulated more lycibarbarphenylpropanoids A-B, coumaric acid, fructose and glucose.