Akash Singh, Banaras Hindu University
Genus Mentha has 18 species and 11 natural hybrids and is an important part of the Lamiaceae family. It is wild in temperate Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and North America and tolerates various agro-climate conditions. Commercially, peppermint (Mentha – piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) and corn mint are the major mint species (Mentha arvensis). In 2016 the mint manufactured a total of 42,000 tonnes, and its economic significance for the food, cosmetics, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries increased annually.
To ensure a sustainable and robust supply of this plant, it is more important to develop new methods which allow us to identify and quantify the most important aroma compounds in mint quickly and precisely. New research published in the journal Food Chemistry claims to develop a toolbox for flavor compound mapping in mint that is based on a bead–beater homogenization followed by a UHPLC–MS/MS analysis. Using this toolbox they quantified 59 flavor-active metabolites representing the characteristic flavor of mint.
How does the toolbox meet the new requirements?
The toolbox was developed by using a high-throughput extraction approach which provides a new method for extraction and quantitation of the key aroma compounds in single mint leaves without any time and laborious consuming steps. In total, 59 active flavors, which contribute towards the specific aroma or unpleasant aromas, were selected. A network structure was built and finally a UHPLC–MS/MS was used to visualize the chemical similarities and differences between these 59 compounds. With a bead beater, a new extraction approach is required for aroma compounds, which requires at least 0.3 g of mint material – about one mature mint leaf’s equivalent – and only 1.0 mL acetonitrile solvent volume.
A 3–NPH derivative step was required to make the volatile carbonyl compounds more appropriate for UHPLC–MS/MS analysis. To ensure UPHLC–MS/MS analysis of alcohols, their active hydrogen and hydroxyl groups were modified using the derivatization reagent Glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMA). After the derivation parameters were optimized, highly sensitive MS detection for compounds was achieved over a large range of concentrations. This approach allowed the conversion of volatile flavor-active compounds to non-volatile compounds, which were then easily separated by liquid chromatography and detected by mass spectrometry.
Findings and Prospects:
This toolbox analytically determined 59 compounds. The aroma composition of mint leaves or mint oils of different species over a concentration range of 6 order magnitude was analyzed and compared for the first time using this toolbox. Menthol (20), menthone, (+) menthofuran, neomenthol and 1,8-cineole were reported as the main aroma compounds in Black Mitcham, while the higher concentration of (R, S)‑carvone, limonene, 1,8–cineole and myrcene were representative for scotch and indigenous spearmint.
Development of this toolbox and using it to map the flavor compound of Mentha (Mint) could lay the foundation for the upcoming studies that may report the alterations in flavor, the concentration of aroma compounds and other terpenes based on external environmental simulations or internal stimulations such as growth stage, reproduction period etc.
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Reference:
- Peters, V. C. T., Dunkel, A., Frank, O., McCormack, B., Dowd, E., Didzbalis, J., Dawid, C., & Hofmann, T. (2021). A high throughput toolbox for comprehensive flavor compound mapping in mint. Food Chemistry, 365, 130522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130522
Author info:
Akash Singh is a first-year master’s student of Biochemistry at Banaras Hindu University. He plans to pursue Ph.D. in the future. He aims to research and teach the young minds of the country.
Social media links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akash-singh-82b5811a2/
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