Analysis of seasonal changes in plants by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy: Looking at the aqueous extracts from different plant tissues

Background . Changes in the metabolic profiles of complex biological systems (cell, tissue, organ or organism) under normal and pathological conditions provide unique way to look at the physiological processes in living objects. Methods. The high-resolution NMR spectroscopy was used here to investigate seasonal changes in metabolite compositions of aqueous extracts from various tissues of several plants. Results. The birch sap is characterized by the high glucose and fructose levels. In addition to these sugars, relatively low concentrations of amino acids, organic acids, and alcohols were also present in the birch sap. During the early spring period, young growing leaves of the birch were characterized by the increased amounts of choline and scyllo-inositol. However, after the cessation of growth, the concentrations of these compounds in leaves decreased and remained unchanged even in the fallen leaves in November. Birch leaves also contained myoinositol. The linden leaves were also characterized by the presence of choline, high sugar levels, and very high concentrations of scyllo-inositol, whereas the aqueous extracts from the oak leaves contained only scyllo-inositol in addition to the high sugar levels. C onclusions. The results of this study suggest that the high-resolution NMR spectroscopy can be used to study the biochemistry of seasonal changes in woody plants. General Significance. The NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool that can be used for the direct instrumental analysis of some metabolites in the plant tissues. Journal of Nature and Science, 1(5):e 8 8, 2015