Metabolite and Bioactive Compounds Profiling of Meteora Sea Buckthorn Berries through High-Resolution NMR Analysis

Sea buckthorn berries (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) (SB) are considered as a fruit with a high nutritional value with a plethora of bioactive ingredients. The present work focusses on the analysis of the whole NMR metabolic profile of SB berries grown in an organic orchard of Meteora/Greece. In parallel, this study validates/highlights qualitative characteristics of the osmotic processed berries according to the fresh fruit. The composition in bioactive metabolites of SB berries was elucidated through sophisticated high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. The lipophilic profile maintains the vitamins, flavonoid glycosides, phenolic esters and the essential lipid components of SB, while the polar profile reveals a variety of flavonoids, saccharides, organic acids, amino acids and esterified glycosides. This approach towards identification of SB bioactive ingredients may serve as basis for simultaneous profiling and quality assessment and may be applied to monitor fresh food quality regarding other food preservation methods.

Automated summary

The study focused on analyzing the overall NMR metabolic profile of sea buckthorn berries grown in an organic orchard in Meteora, Greece, and validated the quality characteristics of osmotic processed berries compared to fresh fruit. The bioactive metabolites of sea buckthorn berries were elucidated through sophisticated high-resolution NMR spectroscopy, revealing a variety of lipophilic and polar compounds. This approach can be used for simultaneous profiling and quality assessment of fresh food using different preservation methods.