Lipidomic profiling reveals phenotypic diversity and nutritional benefits in Ficus carica L. (Fig.) seed cultivars

IntroductionFicus carica L. seeds are a substantial source of minor oil with high unsaturation levels and potent antioxidant properties. The study aims to evaluate the mineral composition, lipodomic profile, and vibrational fingerprints of 22 fig genotypes utilizing FTIR-ATR techniques and chemometrics.MethodsFTIR-ATR spectroscopy and chemometric techniques were employed to examine the phenotypic diversity of fig seeds. The investigation was performed in detail. The research analyzed twenty-two fig genotypes to assess their nutritional properties, genetic relationships, and potential applications.ResultsThe results demonstrate substantial nutritional benefits related to fig seeds, which could serve as genetic resources for selection programs for extracting vegetable oil and functional ingredients. Additionally, a detailed lipodomic profile analysis led to the categorization of the genotypes into four unique clusters. The study uncovered new insights regarding the nutritional composition of the samples, while also highlighting significant similarities and differences. The findings showcased the phenotypic diversity within the studied fig germplasm, which is likely attributed to underlying genetic factors. These accessions offer a valuable gene pool for future breeding programs and diverse applications involving fig seeds.DiscussionThis work contributes to the selection of potential genotypes for scientific and industrial purposes. Furthermore, the application of FTIR and chemometrics revealed a noteworthy diversity of patterns, emphasizing the previously underestimated significance of this aspect in evaluating the chemodiversity of the species

Aromatic potential, quality and antioxidant activity of saffron grown in Morocco

peer reviewedSaffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus L., which has a special aroma, colour and odour influencing positively its economic value. In this context, ten saffron ecotypes were screened for their biochemical composition and antioxidant activity. The samples were also analysed using GC-MS and LC-MS to determine their content of volatile and phenolic compounds, respectively. The results revealed statistically significant differences among samples based on moisture (9.09%-11.23%), total phenols (31.62-62.71 mg EAG/g), total flavonoids (23.02-40.02 mg ER/mg), total carotenoids (66.12-155.05 μg/g), picrocrocin (88.99-121.53), crocin (137.44-228.39) and safranal (26.56-53.04). The radical scavenging activity ranged from 17.09% to 29.53% for DPPH assay, and oscillated from 0.128 mmol AAE/g to 0.239 mmol AAE/g for ABTS test, while the ferric reducing antioxidant potency (FRAP) varied from 0.974 to 1.989 mmol Fe2+/g. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified 66 volatile compounds, among which the Safranal and Isophorone were the most abondant. The ES1 from Taliouine recorded a very distinct volatile composition compared to the others ecotypes with 22 authentic volatile compounds. Moreover, liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis revealed 14 phenolic compounds with picrocrocin and crocin were found to be the major compounds. The principal component analysis classified the investigated ecotypes into two mean distinctive sets with ES1 and ES9 were distinguished as a single items. The α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, anethole, acetic acid, ketoisophorone, isophorone, safranal, thymoquinone, total flavonoids, FRAP and total carotenoids, are the main discriminant variables. The two-dimensional analysis of the clustered heatmaps divided showed a relatively similar patterns as the principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmed the singularity of the sample ES1 based on its particular volatile profile dominated mainly by α-terpinyl acetate, methyleugenol, copaene, anethole, limonene, methyl-cyclopentane, which were not identified in the other samples even at minor levels. These findings herein found revealed the high quality of Moroccan saffron, which is very important for the species breeding and valorization

Determination of Physico-biochemical Proprieties and Composition in Volatile Constituents by Solid Phase Micro-extraction of Honey Samples from Different Botanical and Geographical Origins in Morocco

peer reviewedThere is very little information available on the physicochemical proprieties and biochemical composition of the honey commercially available which are truly endangered in Morocco. None of the studied honey is available for commercial purposes, which is the main interest and novelty of this study. The aim of this work is to characterize and classify forty seven honey samples collected from different localities in Morocco and to compare them with two foreign honey samples from Ghana and France, based on their physicochemical proprieties, phenolic contents, radical scavenging activity and volatile compounds by SPME-GC/MS were used to evaluate the quality and cluster all honey samples. Variance analysis revealed highly significant differences between samples (p<0.05). Monofloral honey was characterized by the highest concentration of proline (292.77 ± 13.30). Mutifloral honey from France showed higher amounts of diastase (17.50 ± 1.80) than other compounds, while eucalyptus honey had a higher amount of HMF (105.14 ± 3.7) than the others. Multifloral honey from Ghana showed higher contents of total phenol (149.31 ± 0.41 mg GAE/100g) and flavonoids (58.28 ± 2.6mgRu/100g) than carotenoids (40.76 ± 0.7 mg Eb carotene/100g). Thyme honey showed the highest phenol content (70.97 ± 1.35 mg GAE/100g), flavonoids content (47.18 ± 2.43 mg ERu/100g) and carotenoids content (74.94 ± 3.08mEb-carotene) than other monofloral honey and glucose honey examined. The principal components analysis (PCA) was performed in order to classify honey samples and identify the most discriminant parameters. Lastly, using ANOVA and correlations for all parameters, significant differences between diverse types of honey were examined. Biochemical and SPME/GC/MS methods were used to propose a complementary approach for honey classification

Phenols, Volatile Compounds, Organic Acids and Antioxidant Activity of Strawberry Tree (<i>Arbutus Unedo</i> L.) Fruits Belonging to Five Genotypes Growing in Morocco

peer reviewedThis study aims to identify the individual phenolics and volatile compounds, as well as the organic acids of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) genotype fruits. The antioxidant activities were also assessed using three methods (DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays) significant differences (p˂0.05) were observed among all the genotypes. Total phenols varied from 25.37 to 39.06 mg GAE/g dried weight (DW), total flavonoids ranged between 3.30 and 7.07 mg RE/g DW, and anthocyanins varied from 0.15 to 0.64 mg cya-3-glu/100 g DW. Moreover, the antioxidant activities were in the range of 3.33–21.08, 2.25–19.58, and 1.08–13 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g DW for DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays, respectively. Seventeen phenolics compounds were identified by HPLC in A. unedo fruits. Gallocatechol and catechin were the most abundant compounds. Among the volatile compounds identified, hexadecanoic acid was the most abundant in all the genotype fruits. The principal component analysis revealed that the first two components formed 66.47% of the total inertia

Survey of phenolic acids, flavonoids and antioxidant potency between figs peels and pulps: Chemical and Chemometric Approach

peer reviewedIn the present study, chromatic coordinates, phenolic acids, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate (ABTS) and lipid peroxidation inhibition capacity (LPIC) essays and their relative IC50 were investigated in 25 fig cultivars growing in Morocco. The aims of this study were to determine (i) the variation in these compounds among light and dark-colored cultivars, (ii) their partitioning between fruit peel and pulp and (iii) to display network connections among these variables. Twelve phenolic compounds (PCs) were isolated in peel extract versus eight in pulp samples. Anthocyanins, mainly cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, were the predominant compounds in peels, where the mean concentrations were 75.90 ± 18.76 and 77.97 ± 18.95 µg/g dw, respectively. On the other hand, (−)-epicatechin and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside were the major compounds in the pulp extracts, where the mean values were 5.23 ± 4.03 and 9.01 ± 5.67 µg/g dw, respectively. A two-dimensional hierarchically clustered heatmap was applied to the dataset to explore correlations in the dataset and similarities between cultivars, without dimensionality reduction. Results showed that anthocyanins, particularly pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, were the main contributors to the peels’ free radical scavenging capacity. This capacity was particularly higher in the peel of dark-colored figs compared to the fruit pulp. The local cultivar “INRA 1301” showed the most promising phenolic profile due to its very high levels of almost all detected PCs, especially (−)-epicatechin, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, cyanidine-3,5-diglucoside, cyanidine-3-O-rutinoside and pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside (54.66, 141.08, 35.48, 494.08, 478.66, 12.56 µg/g dw, respectively). Having the darkest figs in the collection (L* = 25.72, c* = 22.09 and h° = 20.99), this cultivar has also combined promising IC50 values, which were of 19.85, 40.58 and 124.78 µg/mL for DPPH, ABTS and LPIC essays, respectivel

Survey of Phenolic Acids, Flavonoids and In Vitro Antioxidant Potency Between Fig Peels and Pulps: Chemical and Chemometric Approach

In the present study, chromatic coordinates, phenolic acids, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate (ABTS) and lipid peroxidation inhibition capacity (LPIC) essays and their relative IC50 were investigated in 25 fig cultivars growing in Morocco. The aims of this study were to determine (i) the variation in these compounds among light and dark-colored cultivars, (ii) their partitioning between fruit peel and pulp and (iii) to display network connections among these variables. Twelve phenolic compounds (PCs) were isolated in peel extract versus eight in pulp samples. Anthocyanins, mainly cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, were the predominant compounds in peels, where the mean concentrations were 75.90 ± 18.76 and 77.97 ± 18.95 µg/g dw, respectively. On the other hand, (−)-epicatechin and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside were the major compounds in the pulp extracts, where the mean values were 5.23 ± 4.03 and 9.01 ± 5.67 µg/g dw, respectively. A two-dimensional hierarchically clustered heatmap was applied to the dataset to explore correlations in the dataset and similarities between cultivars, without dimensionality reduction. Results showed that anthocyanins, particularly pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, were the main contributors to the peels’ free radical scavenging capacity. This capacity was particularly higher in the peel of dark-colored figs compared to the fruit pulp. The local cultivar “INRA 1301” showed the most promising phenolic profile due to its very high levels of almost all detected PCs, especially (−)-epicatechin, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, cyanidine-3,5-diglucoside, cyanidine-3-O-rutinoside and pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside (54.66, 141.08, 35.48, 494.08, 478.66, 12.56 µg/g dw, respectively). Having the darkest figs in the collection (L* = 25.72, c* = 22.09 and h° = 20.99), this cultivar has also combined promising IC50 values, which were of 19.85, 40.58 and 124.78 µg/mL for DPPH, ABTS and LPIC essays, respectively

Phenotyping Olive Cultivars for Drought Tolerance Using Leaf Macro-Characteristics

This work investigates the relationships between leaf traits and olive response to water stress through two complementary field experiments in order to screen genotypes for drought tolerance. The first experiment consisted of the phenotyping of 32 olive varieties for 11 leaf morpho-physiological traits during a fruit set phase under well-watered conditions. In the second experiment, the yield and vegetative responses of five representative varieties to the withholding of irrigation during the whole fruit growth period were assessed to identify leaf traits that are associated with olive resilience plasticity and that could be used as drought tolerance markers. The results highlighted large phenotypic variability for leaf area (LA, 2.9&ndash;9.5 cm2), petiole elasticity (8.0&ndash;36.0&deg;), water loss in detached leaves (WLDL, 3.6&ndash;11.6%), stomatal density (222.6&ndash;470.1 no mm&minus;2), stomatal length (11.4&ndash;18.7 &micro;m), trichome density (120.5&ndash;204.4 no mm&minus;2), trichome width (103.6&ndash;183.4 &micro;m), leaf contents in cuticular wax (CWC, 44.7&ndash;606.2 &micro;g cm&minus;2), and soluble sugars (SSC, 15.8&ndash;536.9 mg gdw&minus;1). Among these leaf traits, WLDL displayed a significant correlation with the yield stability index (r = &minus;0.973) and water use efficiency (r = &minus;0.939), suggesting its use as relevant drought tolerance phenotypic marker. Likewise, LA, SSC, and CWC were singled out as second-level drought tolerance markers, being strongly correlated with stability of leaf size and leafing intensity in response to water stress. Cluster analysis highlighted 12 distinct levels of drought tolerance within the studied olive collection. Based on the four identified phenotypic markers, &ldquo;Lechin de Sevilla&rdquo; alongside &ldquo;Picholine Marocaine&rdquo; were found to be the most drought-tolerant varieties, while Frantoio was the most sensitive. This study provides the first, unprecedented, insights into the usefulness of leaf phenotyping in olive drought tolerance screening, with a focus on structural and functional leaf traits

First report on fatty acids composition, total phenolics and antioxidant activity in seeds oil of four fig cultivars

With the progresses of oilseed industry, an important interest is currently being focused on exploiting novel and underutilized sources for vegetable oils. Being so far the less studied part in fig fruits, seeds separated from four fig cultivars were assessed for their oil content, fatty acids identification, total phenolics and invitro antioxidant analysis. A one-way Anova yielded statistically significant differences for all parameters, with the exception of pentadecylic, margaric and arachidic acids besides the total saturated fatty acids. Fig seeds presented a yellow colored oil, of which the content ranged from 21.54 ± 1.71 to 28.52 ± 0.62%. Gas liquid chromatography analysis of the seed oil showed high percentages of linolenic acid in the four cultivars ranging from 38.43 ± 0.01 to 43.57 ± 0.04, followed by linoleic acid (28.9 ± 0.06–34.5 ± 0.04%). Palmitic acid and stearic acid were the dominating saturated fatty acids in all samples, where the amounts were in the range from 8.54 ± 0.04 to 9.05 ± 0.06% and from 2.59 ± 0.13 to 3.3% respectively. The efficiency of the desaturation from oleic acid to linoleic acid estimated within desaturation pathway, was higher among all cultivars than the efficiency of the desaturation from linoleic acid to linolenic acid. This explains the large increase of 18:3 concentration in all samples. The local cultivar ‘C11A21’ exhibited the highest total unsaturated fatty acids and the lowest level of saturated fatty acids, while the cultivar ‘White Adriatic’ combined the most relevant phenolics content, antioxidant activity and half maximum inhibitory concentration. All sampled oil possessed an important phenolics content that displayed variable levels of antioxidant activity. The objective of this study is to bring new data on the biochemical attributes of fig seeds as a new source oil that can be used for nutritional, pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes

Assessment of Morphological Traits and Fruit Metabolites in Eleven Fig Varieties (Ficus Carica L.)

In the present study, morphological traits, organic acids, sugars, total phenols, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins, total anthocyanidins, antioxidant activity and color parameters such as lightness (L*), Chroma (c*) and hue angle (h°) were investigated in 11 local and introduced fig cultivars cultivated in Moroccan climate. Since only limited information on that topic is available in the literature, this study was performed in order to compare local clones with some of introduced varieties based on their morphological and biochemical attributes. Results showed highly significant differences among genotypes. The cultivar ‘Kadota’ had the most promising morphological traits. Reducing sugars levels were slightly similar among all cultivars. Thus, glucose varied from 5.55 ± 0.27 to 29.94 ± 0.81 g.kg−1 dw, while fructose amounts were in the range of 6.23 ± 0.28–28.15 ± 0.78 g.kg−1 dw. ‘Palmera’ exhibited the highest level of Malic acid (4.99 ± 0.2 g.kg−1). The latter was predominant in all cultivars. Total phenols, flavonoids and total anthocyanins were, generally, abundant in dark-colored cultivars, while total proanthocyanidins were dominant in lightcolored ones. The local cultivars ‘Fassi’ and ‘Noukali’ contained the highest amounts of total phenols and total anthocyanins, respectively (524.74 ± 35.9 mg GAE 100 g−1 dw and 23.77 ± 6.41 cyanidin3-rutinoside/100 g dw). Free radicalscavenging activity (DPPH and ABTS) was, generally, higher in light-colored figs, while, ferric reducing ability (FRAP) was generally higher in dark skin-colored cultivars. The study confirmed the effectiveness of combining morphological and biochemical analyses in fig assessment and its use pre-breeding programs of the species in Morocco

Bioactive Compounds Assessment in Six Moroccan Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) Varieties Grown in Two Contrasting Environments

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is the world&rsquo;s second-largest oilseed crop after soybean. It contains functional compounds, including fatty acids and phenols, which are known for their health and nutritional benefits. In Morocco, rapeseed was introduced as a promising oilseed crop that has shown good adaptation and great potential. Six genotypes were registered and released as the most high-performance Moroccan varieties in terms of both seed yield and oil content. Apart from their &lsquo;00&prime; quality, i.e., oil without erucic acid and meal with very low glucosinolate content, there is no information on other important quality traits. Therefore, this research aimed to characterize the lipochemical and phenolic attributes of those varieties, namely Baraka, Narjisse, Moufida, Lila, Alia, and Adila, grown at two contrasting sites (Allal Tazi and Douyet) so as to assess the environmental impact on oil quality. A set of 14 parameters were analyzed, comprising seed yield, oil content (Oil C), protein content (PC), acidity index (IA), peroxide index (IP), refractive index (IR), iodine value (IO), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoids, total carotenoid contents, free-radical scavenging activity (FRSA), half-maximal inhibitory concentration, fatty acid composition, and omega 6/omega 3 ratio. The results displayed significant differences (p &lt; 0.001) between the two sites for all the abovementioned traits, except for IA, with an outperformance of Allal Tazi over Douyet. Additionally, variety and variety by site interaction had a significant effect on all the studied parameters, except for IA, IP, IR, and TPC. Over both environments, the varietal effect generated variations in yield of 10.9 to 17.1 q/ha, Oil C of 36.7 to 39.9%, PC of 21.3 to 25.9%, IO of 94.1 to 100 g I2/100 g, FRSA of 22.7 to 42.9%, and an omega6/omega3 ratio of 1.8 to 2.3%. It is noteworthy that the Moufida and Alia varieties displayed a low-magnitude effect of the environment, as they maintained similar high performance over both sites. They, thus, represent Moroccan genetic material of interest from an agronomic and nutritional perspective. Therefore, they should be promoted and encouraged for cultivation in Morocco, mainly in the Allal Tazi area and similar regions