Plant Metabolomics Reviews

CONCLUSION: Phytosterol intervention demonstrates significant efficacy in modulating atherogenic lipid profiles, such as TC and LDL-C, while also elevating HDL-C levels in individuals with hyperlipidemia. Yet, it fails to demonstrate anti-inflammatory activity as measured by CRP levels. The observed marginal TG-lowering effect should be interpreted with caution given substantial interstudy heterogeneity. Therefore, larger, metabolomics-inclusive studies are required for definitive conclusions...

This review highlights the health benefits and environmental potential of Portulaca species, particularly Portulaca oleracea L., and emphasizes addressing challenges in bioactive compound yields and scalability for broader applications. Portulaca species (Portulaca spp.) are globally distributed and rich in bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, betalains, and fatty acids. These compounds exhibit antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. Among these...

Fermented foods represent an intricate ecosystem that delivers live microbes and numerous metabolites, influencing gut health. In this review, we explore how complex microbial communities and metabolites generated during food fermentation modulate the gut microbiome and affect human health. We discuss fermentation-induced biochemical transformations, including enhanced fiber fermentability; nutrient availability; and the synthesis of bioactive metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids,...

Traditional medicinal plants are valued for their therapeutic potential, yet the full spectrum of their bioactive compounds often remains underexplored. Recent advances in multiomics technologies, including metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics, combined with in vitro culture systems and elicitor-based strategies, have revolutionized our ability to characterize and enhance the production of valuable secondary metabolites. This review synthesizes current findings on the integration of...

The Fabaceae family, the third-largest among flowering plants, is nutritionally vital, providing rich sources of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Leguminous plants, such as soybeans, peas, and chickpeas, typically contain two to three times more protein than cereals like wheat and rice, with low fat content (primarily unsaturated fats) and no cholesterol, making them essential for cardiovascular health and blood sugar management. Since the release of the soybean genome in 2010,...

Polyphenols are a large group of plant secondary metabolites, synthesized mostly through the phenylpropanoid pathway, and they comprise flavonoids, stilbenes, lignans, and simple phenolic acids. The characterization of these natural compounds is challenging, due to the complexity of plant extracts, the variety of polyphenols forms in the various plant organs, and the limited availability of authentic standards. The analysis of polyphenols is mostly achieved by reversed-phase liquid...

Custard apples (Annona spp.) are among the most important horticultural crops in the world, including Australia. The genus Annona comprises several economically and nutritionally significant species, including atemoya, cherimoya, sugar apple, ilama, soursop, bullock's heart, and bibra. These fruits are valued for their exotic taste and are popular backyard fruit crops in many countries. While some species are commercially cultivated and exported, the broader potential of these crops remains...

The study of fungal genetics has undergone transformative advancements in recent decades, profoundly reshaping our understanding of fungal diversity, evolution, and pathogenesis. This review synthesizes cutting-edge molecular techniques revolutionizing fungal diagnostics, with a focus on DNA fingerprinting, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and third-generation sequencing (TGS), alongside their applications in species identification, phylogenetic reconstruction, and disease management. We...

Horticultural plants necessitate the use of pesticides. However, inappropriate application may lead to excessive residue in the product organs, thereby undermining food safety and polluting the environment. Pesticides can be absorbed by the leaves, roots, fruits, and seeds of horticultural plants, followed by local accumulation or translocation to other parts. Horticultural plants possess the ability to process pesticides through cellular metabolism and detoxification mechanisms. Metabolomics...

The dual challenges of climate change and population growth have intensified both biotic and abiotic stresses on crops resulting in disruptions of water dissipation patterns, lessen growth, yield, productivity and food security. Therefore, smart and sustainable agriculture practices for climate resilient and high yielding crops is the need of time. For this purpose, Innovation in biotechnological strategies is essential for sustainable agricultural development. Traditional breeding techniques...

We present a comprehensive map of the metabolomics research landscape, synthesizing insights from over 80,000 publications. Using PubMedBERT, we transformed abstracts into 768-dimensional embeddings that capture the nuanced thematic structure of the field. Dimensionality reduction with t-SNE revealed distinct clusters corresponding to key domains, such as analytical chemistry, plant biology, pharmacology, and clinical diagnostics. In addition, a neural topic modeling pipeline refined with GPT-4o...

Recent advances in high-quality genome sequencing have revolutionized research in the tomato clade (Solanum section Lycopersicon), enabling the generation of long-read and even chromosome-scale assemblies for cultivated tomato and its wild relatives. These data have shed light on tomato domestication and population genetics, and have facilitated breeding using exotic germplasm. This review summarizes progress in tomato genomics, focusing on the diversity of section Lycopersicon and its function...

Pleasant aroma is a distinctive character of Wuyi Rock tea, but its optimization through agricultural practices remains largely unexplored. Here, we conducted a two-year field trials in the core-region of Wuyi Rock tea production area with organic or chemical fertilizer. The results indicated that organic fertilizer significantly improves soil fertility, as indicated by increased pH and organic matter. GC-MS analysis showed that organic fertilizer obviously affects the aroma metabolites in tea...

The Corydalis genus, one of the largest within the Papaveraceae family, holds a rich diversity of medicinal resources, particularly among its tuberous species. Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are primarily responsible for the medicinal properties observed in Corydalis plants. In this study, we conducted an integrated evolutionary analysis by combining whole-genome resequencing with comprehensive metabolite profiling across various Corydalis species. Guided by these initial findings,...

Seeds provide 70% of the global food supply, making them crucial for food security. Understanding the molecular mechanisms governing seed development, dormancy, and germination has become increasingly urgent as climate change impacts crop productivity. Over the last three years, 'omics technologies have transformed our understanding of seed biology through comprehensive molecular profiling at unprecedented resolution. This review synthesises recent advances in seed biology enabled by...

Plant evolution is largely driven by plant-microbe interactions, yet the ecology of the plant holobiont is not well understood at a molecular level. However, these relationships hold diverse benefits for sustainable agriculture as nature-based solutions (NbS). We propose a workflow to enhance understanding of natural variation in the plant-soil microbiome holobiont, addressing key challenges like growth promotion, stress resilience, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), biological nitrification...

Multi-omics assisted prediction of disease resistance mechanisms using machine learning has the potential to accelerate the breeding of resistant legume varieties. Grain legumes, such as soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), and lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) play an important role in combating micronutrient malnutrition in the growing human population. However, plant diseases significantly reduce grain yield, causing 10-40% losses in major food crops. The genetic...

To play a role effectively, biocontrol fungi must fight against plant immune response and establish a symbiotic interaction with their host. After successfully colonizing the host plant, the biocontrol fungi may deliver beneficial effects related to plant health and resistance against phytopathogens. These fungi use a variety of tactics to bypass the host immune response, including the production of effector proteins, miRNA interference, manipulation of host defense mechanisms, and others. In...

Metabolomics, the comprehensive analysis of low-molecular-weight metabolites (typically below 1500 DA) in biological systems, relies heavily on mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Each technique has inherent strengths and weaknesses. MS offers high sensitivity and is commonly coupled with chromatography to analyze complex matrices, yet it is destructive, has limited reproducibility, and provides limited structural information. NMR, while less sensitive, is...

Ferulic acid (FA), a hydroxycinnamic acid derivative, is a key bioactive component in traditional medicinal plants including Angelica sinensis and Asafoetida. Accumulating evidence supports its therapeutic efficacy in inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ulcerative colitis (UC). FA exerts anti-inflammatory effects through (1) the regulation of inflammatory cytokine levels; (2) modulation of signaling pathways such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), mitogen-activated...