The seed pericarp of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. (quinoa) contains a mixture of triterpenoid saponins conferring undesired organoleptic properties. In this study, we evaluated saponin content and their corresponding sapogenins in 114 different quinoa accessions. Relative saponin content ranged from 0.22 to 15.04 mg/g of seed dry weight among the genotypes studied and the genotype effect was significant (p < 0.001). About 75% of the genotypes could be classified as low-saponin content lines which is promising in view of ongoing plant breeding efforts. In addition to the quantitative determination of saponins, metabolic profiling was performed by LC-FTICR-MS and LC-MS/MS. We obtained highly accurate mass estimation from ion spectra allowing the identification of twelve saponins of the oleanane type. These differ in their aglycons and in the number and type of glycoside units. Interestingly, we identified a saponin compound that, to our knowledge, had not been reported previously. Our study highlights that there is considerable variability concerning saponin content in quinoa, which contributes to the valorization of genetic resources towards the identification of genotypes that could be utilized in current and future quinoa breeding programs.

中文翻译：

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智利藜（Chenopodium quinoa）种质中三萜皂苷混合物的测定和代谢物分析

藜藜种子果皮。（藜麦）含有三萜皂苷的混合物，具有不良的感官特性。在这项研究中，我们评估了 114 种不同藜麦种质中的皂苷含量及其相应的皂苷元。所研究的基因型中皂苷相对含量范围为0.22~15.04 mg/g种子干重，基因型效应显着（p< 0.001)。大约 75% 的基因型可归类为低皂苷含量品系，鉴于正在进行的植物育种工作，这是有希望的。除了皂苷的定量测定外，还通过 LC-FTICR-MS 和 LC-MS/MS 进行代谢分析。我们从离子光谱中获得了高度准确的质量估计，从而可以鉴定十二种齐墩果型皂苷。它们的不同之处在于它们的苷元以及苷单元的数量和类型。有趣的是，我们发现了一种皂苷化合物，据我们所知，以前没有报道过这种化合物。我们的研究强调，藜麦中皂苷含量存在相当大的差异，这有助于遗传资源的价值化，以鉴定可用于当前和未来藜麦育种计划的基因型。