Foodomics for mulberry fruit (Morus spp.): Analytical fingerprint as antioxidants' and health properties' determination tool

Human nutrition science has greatly developed in the past decades, turning from the consideration of foods as simply energy sources to the recognition of their role in maintaining health and in reducing disease risks: Foodomics is a new science that studies Food and Nutrition domains through the application and integration of advanced “omics” technologies to improve consumer's well-being, health, and knowledge. In recent years, wild food plants have become very attractive to the food industry, prompting their use as replacements for synthetic chemicals and nutraceuticals: in this sense, mulberry is a very important resource for its phytochemical composition, nutritional value, and antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to describe mulberry fruit quality traits and report on the level of potentially bioactive compounds (HPLC fingerprint) and their influence on total fruit phytocomplex and antioxidant activity in comparison to the most common fruits. Mulberry was identified as a rich source of antioxidant compounds; the observed analytical fingerprint demonstrated that the species (and in particular the considered genotype) represents a rich source of phytochemicals, as organic acids, monoterpenes and polyphenolic compounds, especially flavonols and anthocyanins, which led to reasonably good overall fruit quality. This study developed an important tool to assess mulberry quality, chemical composition, and bioactivity, using different chromatographic methods for comprehensive authentication and quality control of its fruits: this research showed that analytical fingerprinting could be an important tool for studies of Foodomics, helping to find new sources of natural health-promoting compounds.