Quantitative 1H-NMR Spectroscopy for Profiling Primary Metabolites in Mulberry Leaves

• Main Authors: Qianqian Liang, Qiuying Wang, Yuan Wang, Ya-nan Wang, Jia Hao, Miaomiao Jiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-03-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: quantitative 1H-NMR; Morus alba; amino acids; saccharides; organic acids
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/23/3/554

The primary metabolites in aqueous extract of mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves were characterized by using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy. With the convenience of resonance assignment, GABA together with the other 10 primary metabolites was simultaneously identified and quantified in one 1H-NMR spectrum. In this study, external calibration curves for metabolites were employed to calculate the concentrations of interests. The proposed quantitative approach was demonstrated with good linearity (r2 ranged in the interval of 0.9965–0.9999), precision, repeatability, stability (RSD values in the ranges of 0.35–4.89%, 0.77–7.13% and 0.28–2.33%, respectively) and accuracy (recovery rates from 89.2% to 118.5%). The established 1H-NMR method was then successfully applied to quantify 11 primary metabolites in mulberry leaves from different geographical regions within a rapid analysis time and a simple sample preparation procedure.