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. 2024 Jun 13;13(12):1862.
doi: 10.3390/foods13121862.

Flower Species Ingredient Verification Using Orthogonal Molecular Methods

Subramanyam Ragupathy  1 , Arunachalam Thirugnanasambandam  1 , Thomas Henry  1 , Varathan Vinayagam  1 , Ragupathy Sneha  2 , Steven G Newmaster  1
Affiliations

Flower Species Ingredient Verification Using Orthogonal Molecular Methods

Subramanyam Ragupathy et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Flowers are gaining considerable interest among consumers as ingredients in food, beverages, cosmetics, and natural health products. The supply chain trades in multiple forms of botanicals, including fresh whole flowers, which are easier to identify than dried flowers or flowers processed as powdered or liquid extracts. There is a gap in the scientific methods available for the verification of flower species ingredients traded in the supply chains of multiple markets. The objective of this paper is to develop methods for flower species ingredient verification using two orthogonal methods. More specifically, the objectives of this study employed both (1) DNA-based molecular diagnostic methods and (2) NMR metabolite fingerprint methods in the identification of 23 common flower species ingredients. NMR data analysis reveals considerable information on the variation in metabolites present in different flower species, including color variants within species. This study provides a comprehensive comparison of two orthogonal methods for verifying flower species ingredient supply chains to ensure the highest quality products. By thoroughly analyzing the benefits and limitations of each approach, this research offers valuable insights to support quality assurance and improve consumer confidence.

Keywords: flowers; natural health products; nuclear magnetic resonance; quality assurance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they do not have any conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification of variation in flower metabolites from 33 flower samples representing 23 species, including DNA-based species identification. (A) NMR metabolomic dendrogram. (B) Identification of flowers using four different DNA regions. Inset (C) NMR spectra representing the large differences in metabolites among distant groups in the dendrogram; different varieties of Brassica oleracea have very different plant metabolites. (D) NMR spectra representing the small differences in metabolites within near groups in the dendrogram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A stacked comparison 1H-NMR spectra of three different colored flowers of Rosa chinensis: (A) Rosa chinensis—pink flower; (B) Rosa chinensis—white with pink spotted flower; (C) Rosa chinensis—red flower. Numbered boxes represent differentiating peaks among samples/taxa.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A comparison of the stacked 1H NMR spectra of extracts from edible flowers: (A) Chrysanthemum × morifolium—white flowers; (B) Chrysanthemum × morifolium—yellow flowers; (C) Chrysanthemum × morifolium—yellow flowers; (D) Chrysanthemum × morifolium—yellow-orange flowers. Numbered boxes represent differentiating peaks among samples/taxa.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A comparison of the 1H-NMR spectra of different colors Calendula officinalis flowers: (A) Calendula officinalis—orange flowers; (B) Calendula officinalis—yellow flowers; (C) Calendula officinalis—orange-yellow flowers. Numbered boxes represent differentiating peaks among samples/taxa.
Figure 5
Figure 5
1H-NMR spectra of extracts of flowers with the assigned metabolites.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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