Fabiola Eugelioa,b, Araceli Rivera-Pérezb, Federico Fantia, Michele Del Carloa, Manuel Sergic, Dario Compagnonea, Antonia Garrido Frenichb

aDipartimento di Bioscienze e tecnologie agroalimentari e ambientali, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy;
bDepartamento de Química y Física, Universidad de Almería, Almería, E-04120, España;
cDipartimento di Chimica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

Lupin seeds are the edible portion of lupin plants, included in the Fabaceae family. They have recently garnered global attention as a sustainable alternative to other legumes. Their resilience to environmental stress and climate adaptability, combined with significant nutritional benefits, make them an attractive crop [1]. Lupins are rich in proteins (>40%) and fibers (>28%), claiming a low-fat content (<6%); they also constitute a potential source of minerals and vitamins. Additionally, they offer bioactive phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, phytosterols and triterpenes, providing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, they also contain antinutritional elements, notably quinolizidine alkaloids. The chemical composition of lupins can be influenced by several factors such as species or variety, geographical origin, farming practices, environmental stress, harvesting and processing methods [2]. In this study, Lupinus albus L. samples from four southern-central Italian regions were subjected to an untargeted metabolomics approach using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). The aim was to discriminate between samples based on their geographical origin and assess the metabolic variances resulting from distinct agricultural practices (conventional vs. organic farming). 

Unsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to explore natural clustering tendency among the samples. Additionally, a supervised Orthogonal Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed robust clustering and predictive capability, identifying over 30 putative biomarkers across various compound classes, including alkaloids, amino acids, glycerophospholipids, and fatty acids. The results highlighted the impact of the origin and farming techniques on the metabolomic composition and distinctiveness of lupin samples; this could be crucial for cultivation optimization, traceability ensurance and quality assessment of lupins, aiming to increase consumers attention and preferences, given their potential nutritional properties.

Keywords: L. albus L., UHPLC-HRMS, metabolomics, chemometrics

References

1. Eugelio F., Palmieri S., et al. Molecules, 28, (2023), 1531 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28041531

2. Pereira A., Ramos F., et al., Molecules, 27, (2022), 8557 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27238557