Ripe pulp metabolite profiling of ten Indonesian dessert banana cultivars using UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS

The dessert bananas genotype are typically AA, AAA, and AAB, while ABB is classified as cooking bananas. Their nutritional content can be accessed much better than cooking bananas by the human body because they can be consumed directly without processing. This present study aimed to investigate the metabolite profiles of the ripe pulp of ten Indonesian dessert bananas cultivars represents the commercial interest and unpopular cultivars groups by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS. They were Ambon Putih, Ambon Kuning, Ambon Badak, Ambon Lumut, Raja Sereh, Raja Bulu, Lampung, Papan, Rejang, and Udang. Nineteen metabolites were putatively identified in all of the cultivars studied. The main groups were fatty acids and the others catecholamine, quinone, phenol, flavonoid, cinnamic acid, organic acid, indole, and amino acid groups. Some of them were important bioactive compounds such as linolenic acid, palmitelaidic acid, linoleic acid, p-coumaric acid, dopamine, myricetin-deoxyhexose-hexoside, eugenol, 1,4-benzoquinone, and antroquinonol. The PCA score and loading plot showed the ten cultivars were separated into two groups based on linolenic acid as the first (PC1, 57%) and p-coumaric acid (PC2, 38%) as the second principal component with the 95% total variance explained. There was no relationship between PCA grouping and the genome group in terms of composition and metabolite content. These results provide valuable information for plant breeding programs, especially in banana biofortification for the future.

Automated summary

Bananas with genotypes AA, AAA, and AAB are more nutritionally accessible to the human body compared to ABB, which is classified as cooking bananas. The study analyzed the metabolite profiles of ten Indonesian dessert banana cultivars, identifying 19 metabolites including fatty acids, catecholamine, and phenol groups. PCA analysis separated the ten cultivars into two groups based on linolenic acid and p-coumaric acid content.