A novel integrated non-targeted metabolomic analysis reveals significant metabolite variations between different lettuce (Lactuca sativa. L) varieties

Abstract

Metabolic analysis: Not all lettuces are equal Lettuces of different types show distinct variations in metabolic composition, which may have significance for their nutritional value. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) has been cultivated for over 4000 years, resulting in a huge diversity of morphological types. Using a powerful combination of analysis techniques, an international team led by Francisco Tomas-Barberan at the Centre for Applied Soil Science and Biology of the Segura, Murcia, Spain, and Lijun Luo and Danfenge Huang of Shanghai Agribiological Gene Center, China, explored the chemical differences between thirty types of lettuce including leafy, butterhead, iceberg and romaine varieties. Their comprehensive ‘metabolomic’ approach identified significant differences in metabolism between leafy types and the three other, ‘head’ types, with the leafy varieties having higher concentrations of health-promoting compounds such as antioxidants. Their approach could in future be applied to other types of crops.