Identification of amines, amino and organic acids in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) spear leaf using GC- and LC/Q-TOF MS metabolomics platforms

Abstract The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is the world’s most productive oil-bearing crop, yielding 10 times more than soybean. However, the industry is challenged by stagnating yield and relentless disease threat, necessitating a holistic approach to achieve sustainable development. Post-genomics research such as metabolite profiling has been undertaken to understand the metabolic regulation important to crop improvement, phenotyping and disease resistance attributes. As previous reports on oil palm metabolite investigation were focused on specific metabolites of interest, e.g. phytonutritive secondary metabolites, and the use of different metabolomics platforms and data interpretations, this study aimed to obtain comprehensive metabolite profiles of amines, amino and organic acids in oil palm spear leaf using both gas and liquid chromatography paired with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-, LC/Q-TOF MS) with validation using reference chemicals or MS/MS fragmentation and reporting standard based on the Metabolomics Standards Initiative (MSI) levels. Oil palm spear leaf extract was found to contain three amines, twenty amino acids and six organic acids. The results provide baseline data for potential analysis in describing oil palm agronomic parameters for elucidating tissue metabolic events and for measuring the magnitudes of genetic versus environment (GxE) factors on this valuable species. This study also provides information for the utilization and harnessing of plant chemicals for industrial use and the production of industrially superior oil palm genotypes through understanding of its metabolome content.