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Metabolomic analysis and ecofriendly enrichment of sunflower meal extract.

BACKGROUND
The presence of phenolic compounds in sunflower is well reported in the literature, however, knowledge is scarce when it comes to the composition of other secondary metabolites in this species and its by-products. The present work evaluated, for the first time, the phytochemical composition of sunflower meal produced in Brazil. A combination of mixture designs and CCD 23 models was than applied to maximize the recovery of bioactive compounds using ecologically friendly solvents and concentrating by applying activated carbon, a sustainable adsorbent. The product of this extraction/concentration was also evaluated by an untargeted metabolomic approach using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.


RESULTS
A diverse and abundant profile of phenolic compounds was obtained from Brazilian sunflower meal: in total, 51natural products were tentatively identified, of which 35 for the first time in sunflower. The sorption capacity of the activated charcoal, in the optimized process conditions, was effective in the separation and concentration of minority secondary metabolites. The ecofriendly extract proved to be enriched in plumberoside, p-coumaric acid, and alkaloids.


CONCLUSIONS
Investigation of the phytochemical profile of sunflower meal produced in Brazil pointed to several secondary metabolites reported for the first time in sunflower samples, including phenolic compounds, alkaloids, and terpenes. The use of activated charcoal in alkaline medium as an adsorbent for the concentration of these phytochemicals, from an aqueous extract, generated a potentially cost-effective, ecofriendly extract, enriched in minor metabolites, indicating a possible innovative way to selectively obtain these compounds from sunflower meal. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.