Publications by authors named "Elena Hurtado-Fernandez"

Avocado ripening entails intricate physicochemical transformations resulting in desirable characteristics for consumption; however, its impact on specific metabolites and its cultivar dependence remains largely unexplored. This study employed LC-MS to quantitatively monitor 30 avocado pulp metabolites, including phenolic compounds, amino acids, nucleosides, vitamins, phytohormones, and related compounds, from unripe to overripe stages, in three commercial varieties (Hass, Fuerte, and Bacon). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed significant metabolic variations between cultivars, leading to the identification of potential varietal markers.

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Article Synopsis
  • Spain is the leading avocado producer in Europe but only meets less than 10% of the continent's demand, relying largely on imports from Peru and Chile.
  • A detailed analysis of the metabolic profiles of avocados from Spain, Peru, and Chile revealed significant differences in their chemical compounds using advanced analytical techniques.
  • The study found distinct metabolic patterns for avocados based on their origin, with Spain showcasing high levels of specific acids, while Chile had notable concentrations of abscisic acid and Peru had unique levels of dihydroxybenzoic acid.
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Avocado fruit growth and development, unlike that of other fruits, is characterized by the accumulation of oil and C7 sugars (in most fruits, the carbohydrates that prevail are C6). There are five essential carbohydrates which constitute 98% of the total content of soluble sugars in this fruit; these are fructose, glucose, sucrose, d-mannoheptulose, and perseitol, which together with quinic acid and chlorogenic acid have been the analytes under study in this work. After applying an efficient extraction procedure, a novel methodology based on hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was applied to determine the levels of these seven substances in tissues─exocarp, seed, and mesocarp─from avocado fruits of two different varieties scarcely studied, and , at three different ripening stages.

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When the recipient of the product is relatively distant from the production area, it is necessary to use cold storage and controlled humidity to transport the avocado fruits. One of the main advantages of local avocado consumption lies on the possibility of prolonging on-tree maturation; this could foreseeably modify the metabolic profile of the fruit that reaches the consumer. In this work, the effect of prolonged on tree maturation (during different time intervals) on the final composition of avocado fruit (at edible ripeness) was evaluated and compared with the impact of the same periods after prolonged cold storage.

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In Morocco, the recovery of olive agro-industrial by-products as potential sources of high-added value substances has been underestimated so far. A comprehensive quantitative characterization of olive leaves' bioactive compounds is crucial for any attempt to change this situation and to implement the valorization concept in emerging countries. Thus, the phenolic fraction of olive leaves of 11 varieties ('Arbequina', 'Hojiblanca', 'Frantoio', 'Koroneiki', 'Lechín', 'Lucque', 'Manzanilla', 'Picholine de Languedoc', 'Picholine Marocaine', 'Picual' and 'Verdal'), cultivated in the Moroccan Meknès region, was investigated.

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Over the last decades, the phenolic compounds from virgin olive oil (VOO) have become the subject of intensive research because of their biological activities and their influence on some of the most relevant attributes of this interesting matrix. Developing metabolic profiling approaches to determine them in monovarietal virgin olive oils could help to gain a deeper insight into olive oil phenolic compounds composition as well as to promote their use for botanical origin tracing purposes. To this end, two approaches were comparatively investigated (LC-ESI-TOF MS and GC-APCI-TOF MS) to evaluate their capacity to properly classify 25 olive oil samples belonging to five different varieties (Arbequina, Cornicabra, Hojiblanca, Frantoio and Picual), using the entire chromatographic phenolic profiles combined to chemometrics (principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)).

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The phenolic fraction of monovarietal virgin olive oils (VOOs) from the main Moroccan cultivar Picholine marocaine (142 samples from three different subareas of the Meknès region) was studied over three consecutive crop seasons (2011, 2012, and 2013) using a powerful LC-MS methodology. First, LC-ESI-TOF MS was used to get a comprehensive characterization of the phenolic fraction; afterward, LC-ESI-IT MS was utilized for further identification (MS/MS experiments) and quantitation purposes. A total of 28 phenolic compounds (and quinic acid) were determined, revealing the complex profile of Meknès VOO, composed, in order of abundance, by secoiridoids, phenolic alcohols, lignans, flavonoids, and phenolic acids.

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Current knowledge of the quality and composition of Moroccan olive oil is still incomplete and no consistent database compiling its properties is available. This study was carried out to achieve a comprehensive characterisation of north Moroccan olive oils. Thus, 279 olive samples of "Picholine Marocaine" cultivar grown in 7 Moroccan regions were collected, and oils extracted over two consecutive crop seasons (2011 and 2012) and analysed (considering physicochemical quality parameters and purity criteria).

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A CZE method with two different MS detection conditions (MRM and Full Scan) was developed to determine qualitative and quantitative changes in the metabolic profile of avocado fruits (Persea americana). LODs in MRM approach were found between 20.1 and 203.

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Although GC-APCI-MS was developed more than 40 years ago this coupling is still far from being a routine technique. One of the reasons explaining the limited use of GC-APCI so far is the lack of spectral database which facilitates the identification of the compounds under study. The first application of a very recently developed GC-APCI database to identify as many compounds as possible in a complex matrix such as avocado fruit is presented here.

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Herein we present the development of a powerful CE-UV method able to detect and quantify an important number of phenolic acids in 13 varieties of avocado fruits at 2 ripening stages. All the variables involved in CE separation were exhaustively optimized and the best results were obtained with a capillary of 50 μm i.d.

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Background: Invented more than three decades ago by Horning, GC-MS under atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (GC-APCI-MS) has only recently emerged from years of obscurity. However, the general acceptance of GC-APCI-MS is certainly constrained by the lack of spectral libraries, which make the traditional GC-MS approaches so powerful.

Results: Here we present a concept of a GC-APCI-QqToF spectral library.

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We have developed an analytical method using UHPLC-UV/ESI-TOF MS for the comprehensive profiling of the metabolites found in the methanolic extracts of 13 different varieties of avocado at two different ripening degrees. Both chromatographic and detection parameters were optimized in order to maximize the number of compounds detected and the sensitivity. After achieving the optimum conditions, we performed a complete analytical validation of the method with respect to its linearity, sensitivity, precision, accuracy and possible matrix effects.

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A powerful HPLC-DAD-ESI-TOF MS method was established for the efficient identification of the chemical constituents in the methanolic extracts of avocado (Persea americana). Separation and detection conditions were optimized by using a standard mix containing 39 compounds belonging to phenolic acids and different categories of flavonoids, analytes that could be potentially present in the avocado extracts. Optimum LC separation was achieved on a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 analytical column (4.

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Antioxidants are one of the most common active ingredients of nutritionally functional foods which can play an important role in the prevention of oxidation and cellular damage inhibiting or delaying the oxidative processes. In recent years there has been an increased interest in the application of antioxidants to medical treatment as information is constantly gathered linking the development of human diseases to oxidative stress. Within antioxidants, phenolic molecules are an important category of compounds, commonly present in a wide variety of plant food materials.

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