Chemical profiling of herbarium samples of solanum (Solanaceae) using mass spectrometry

• Published in: Phytochemistry letters Vol. 36; pp. 99 - 105
• Main Authors: Mendes Resende, João Victor, de Sá, Najla M.D., de Oliveira, Marcelo Trovó Lopes, Lopes, Rosana Conrado, Garrett, Rafael, Moreira Borges, Ricardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Chemical space; Herbarium; LC–MS; Molecular network; Solanaceae; Solanum; Herbarium; Chemical space; Molecular network; Solanaceae; Solanum; LC–MS
• ISSN: 1874-3900; 1876-7486
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phytol.2020.01.021

[Display omitted] •Herbarium collections are a reliable source of samples for NP chemistry studies.•Samples from Herbarium collections show rich chemical diversity.•Two Solanum species were successfully discriminated by LC-HRMS despite different years of collection. Herbarium collections are broadly available for scientific evaluations but surprisingly few studies explored their rich chemical diversity. Considering the systematic organization and the storage conditions Herbarium collections are kept, we wonder if there are still secondary metabolites of interest after years of storage and how this data could be used to discriminate different species within the same genus. Thus, using a set of 25 Solanum (Solanaceae) samples selected randomly from the RFA Herbarium we designed a fast method to extract and analyze them using LC-HRMS/MS. This pilot study shows the broad chemical space of samples stored in Herbarium collections. Also, we performed multivariate analysis (PCA and PLS-DA) using data from two species, S. argenteum and S. pseudoquina, to evaluate if we could discriminate them based on their chemical profiles and we successfully showed sample grouping despite even 10 years of difference between their collection and their different collection sites. Thus, herbarium exsiccates was proven to be a reliable source of samples for NP chemistry studies. By this means, we make a plea in favor of the use of chemical profiling as a tool for taxonomists in collaboration with chemists for classification studies and to consider keeping an extract collection along with the exsiccates.