Metabolomics of the alimurgic plants Taraxacum officinale, Papaver rhoeas and Urtica dioica by combined NMR and GC–MS analysis

Introduction: The phytoalimurgic plants, common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) are a source of nutraceuticals. Objectives: To apply a combined metabolomic fingerprinting approach by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to common dandelion, corn poppy and stinging nettles to obtain simultaneous identification and quantitation of the major classes of organic compounds. Methodology: The whole plants collected in the Cilento National Park were dried and then extracted to obtain non‐polar and polar organic extracts. GC–MS was used for non‐polar extracts while 1 H‐NMR spectroscopy was used for polar extracts. In both cases, simultaneous identification and quantification of the bioactive metabolites was obtained. Results: Non‐polar organic extracts of all plants were mainly composed of palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. The two pentacyclic triterpenols α‐ and β‐amyrin were detected in nettle extract. The analysis of polar organic extracts allowed to detect and quantify organic acids and sugars as main metabolites along with amino acids, caffeoyl derivatives, flavonoids, and nucleotides. In particular, corn poppy leaves contained a huge amount of glyceric acid (55.7% of the total extract). Stinging nettles, instead, exhibited a large amount of choline (19.5%). Conclusion: Metabolomic approach coupling GC–MS with NMR spectroscopy allowed to provide a detailed metabolite profile of three alimurgic plants, common dandelion, corn poppy and stinging nettle, from both a qualitative and quantitative point of view