Characterization of fatty acids, amino acids and organic acids in three colored quinoas based on untargeted and targeted metabolomics

In this study, fatty acids, amino acids and organic acids in three color quinoas (WQ, white quinoa; RQ, red quinoa; BQ, black quinoa) were analyzed based on untargeted and targeted metabolomics. A total of 20 fatty acids, 30 amino acids and 17 organic acids were detected, and 4 fatty acids, 12 amino acids, and 12 organic acids were reported in quinoas for the first time. Significant differences (p < 0.05) of fatty acids (256.65 mg/g in RQ to 294.10 mg/g in BQ), amino acids (6627.54 mu g/g in WQ to 10452.72 mu g/g in BQ) and organic acids (21.21 mg/g in WQ to 31.84 mg/g in RQ) were presented in different quinoas. C-16:0 (77.26 mg/g similar to 97.58 mg/g), C-18:2n6c (73.26 mg/g similar to 99.67 mg/g), glutamic acid (1926.43 mu g/g similar to 3632.53 mu g/g), tyrosine (931.00 mu g/g similar to 1197.94 mu g/g), succinic acid (12.16 mg/g similar to 17.30 mg/g) and L-malic acid (1.14 mg/g similar to 5.39 mg/g) were common in quinoas. According to principal component analysis (PCA), WQ could be characterized by heptadecanoic acid (1.99 mg/g), palmitic acid (97.58 mg/g), glutamine (5.43 mu g/g), ornithine (53.78 mu g/g) and citric acid (0.79 mg/g); BQ was characterized by oleic acid (86.33 mg/g), myristic acid (2.02 mg/g), beta-alanine (31.64 mu g/g), tyrosine (1197.94 mu g/g), proline (2003.69 mu g/g) and lactic acid (2.57 mg/g); RQ was characterized by L-alanine (746.41 mu g/g), L-norvaline (6.67 mu g/g), succinic acid (17.30 mg/g) and L-malic acid (5.39 mg/g), respectively. In conclusion, characterization of fatty acids, amino acids and organic acids in three colored quinoas could be well analyzed based on metabolomics.

Automated summary

This study analyzed fatty acids, amino acids, and organic acids in three colored quinoas (white, red, black) using untargeted and targeted metabolomics. Significant differences were found in the content of these compounds among the quinoas, with specific compounds characterizing each color variety. Principal component analysis was used to identify key components that differentiate the different quinoa colors.