Widely targeted metabolomics reveals the antioxidant and anticancer activities of different colors of Dianthus caryophyllus

Xuhong Zhou; Miaomaio Wang; Hong Li; Shilong Ye; Wenru Tang

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1166375

Widely targeted metabolomics reveals the antioxidant and anticancer activities of different colors of Dianthus caryophyllus

Front Nutr. 2023 May 19:10:1166375. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1166375. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xuhong Zhou^{1

2}, Miaomaio Wang², Hong Li¹, Shilong Ye², Wenru Tang³

Affiliations

¹ Office of Science and Technology, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China.
² Open and Shared Public Science and Technology Service Platform, Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Resources in Yunnan, Kunming, China.
³ Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Aging and Tumor, Medical Faculty, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.

Abstract

Carnation is edible flower that has potent antioxidant properties and is used in traditional Chinese medicinal system and food industry. The phytochemicals responsible for these various proprieties, however, are not fully understood. Thus, in order to recognize metabolite diversity and variability in carnation flowers of different colors and to discover key metabolites that contribute to the differences in antioxidant and anticancer activities, widely targeted LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics analysis was conducted on purple, green, yellow, and white carnation flowers. We identified and chemically categorized 932 metabolites. Metabolic compounds varied significantly with flower color. Several flavonoids, organic acids, phenolic acids, and nucleotides and their derivatives were found to be specific differential metabolites in purple flowers. A total of 128 key differential metabolites were screened. The purple flowers were found to have the highest antioxidant and anticancer activities compared to the other colored flowers. Correlation analysis revealed that the 6-hydroxykaempferol-3,6-O-diglucoside, 6-hydroxykaempferol-7-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-sophoroside, and 2'-deoxyguanosine were found to be the major constituents of the antioxidant and anticancer activities. 2'-Deoxyguanosine has effective antiproliferative activity against A549 and U2OS cells for the first report. At the same time, the combination of 2'-deoxyguanosine with 6-hydroxykaempferol-3, 6-O-diglucoside, or quercetin-3-O-sophoroside have also been found to increase the antitumor activity of 2'-deoxyguanosine. These discoveries enrich information on the phytochemical composition of carnation of different colors and provide resources for the overall use and improvement of carnation flowers quality.

Keywords: biological activity; carnation flowers; edible flower; flower color; phytochemical composition.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Yunnan Province Science and Technology Department (202001AZ070001-012 and 202207AB110015), Yunnan Province Education Department (2020YGC01), and Human Resources and Social Security Department of Yunnan Province (YNWR-QNBJ-2018-389).