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Metabolite profiling on wheat grain to enable a distinction of samples from organic and conventional farming systems
Author(s) -
Bonte Anja,
Neuweger Heiko,
Goesmann Alexander,
Thonar Cécile,
Mäder Paul,
Langenkämper Georg,
Niehaus Karsten
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.6566
Subject(s) - organic farming , metabolite , metabolite profiling , profiling (computer programming) , wheat grain , agriculture , cereal grain , environmental chemistry , chemistry , environmental science , agronomy , food science , biology , computer science , biochemistry , ecology , operating system
BACKGROUND Identification of biomarkers capable of distinguishing organic and conventional products would be highly welcome to improve the strength of food quality assurance. Metabolite profiling was used for biomarker search in organic and conventional wheat grain ( Triticum aestivum L.) of 11 different old and new bread wheat cultivars grown in the DOK system comparison trial. Metabolites were extracted using methanol and analysed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry . RESULTS Altogether 48 metabolites and 245 non‐identified metabolites ( TAGs ) were detected in the cultivar Runal. Principal component analysis showed a sample clustering according to farming systems and significant differences in peak areas between the farming systems for 10 Runal metabolites. Results obtained from all 11 cultivars indicated a greater influence of the cultivar than the farming system on metabolite concentrations. Nevertheless, a t ‐test on data of all cultivars still detected 5 metabolites and 11 TAGs with significant differences between the farming systems . CONCLUSION Based on individual cultivars, metabolite profiling showed promising results for the categorization of organic and conventional wheat. Further investigations are necessary with wheat from more growing seasons and locations before definite conclusions can be drawn concerning the feasibility to evolve a combined set of biomarkers for organically grown wheat using metabolite profiles. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry