Untargeted Metabolites and Chemometric Approach to Elucidate the Response of Growth and Yield Attributes on Different Concentrations of an Amino Acid Based Biostimulant in Two Lettuce Cultivars

Abstract

Application of LC-MS untargeted and targeted metabolites profiling together with chemometric analysis in two lettuce cultivars (‘Lara’ and ‘Elisa’) exposed to different concentrations (0,1, 3, and 6%) of an amino acid based Phytostim® biostimulant (Moringa oleifera origin) was studied, to elucidate growth and yield components after 45 days of transplanting. Application of 3% dose improved both growth and yield parameters in both cultivars in comparison to the 6% dose which inhibited growth. Similar trend was observed for targeted metabolites (phenolic, flavonoids, carotenoids and chloroplyll a and b). The PCA and OPLS-DA score-plot clustered the metabolome profile of biostimulant treated vs untreated samples with major heterogeneity distinction observed in the untreated samples.

Keywords: chemometric analysis, growth and yield components, Lettuce, phytostim biostimulant, untargeted or targeted metabolites profiling